Overview
- A widely shared clip from Aug. 29 at Fan Expo Canada shows Gibson making rapid hand gestures behind an onstage American Sign Language interpreter as he walked onstage for a Q&A.
- Gibson issued a public apology saying the moment was “spontaneous thoughtless idiocy,” that there was “no intended maliciousness,” and that he apologized to anyone upset by it.
- The reaction online has been mixed, with members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community calling the act disrespectful and harmful to efforts to have ASL taken seriously while some attendees and a few interpreters have defended or downplayed the gesture.
- Multiple outlets reported they sought comment from Fan Expo Canada and said organizers had not immediately provided a substantive response as coverage continued to circulate.
- The incident has revived scrutiny of Gibson’s decades-long controversies and his summer appearances promoting a Passion of the Christ follow-up, prompting debate about platforming and the real-world impact of visible mockery on accessibility efforts.