Women Who Partied With Gibson Defend Him

Aug. 7, 2006 — -- It's not only his Hollywood friends rallying to Mel Gibson's defense. It's also those he drank with on the night that has possibly changed his life forever.

This weekend Jodie Foster and Patrick Swayze said Gibson has a problem with booze, not bigotry.

Producer Dean Devlin, who is Jewish, called Gibson a close friend. He said, "If Mel is an anti-Semite, then he spends a lot of time with us, which makes no sense."

Still, it's the words of the two young women who partied with Gibson that night that are heard most clearly today. They said they can't compare the friendly and down-to-earth guy they met at the bar to the reportedly belligerent drunk arrested later that night.

The night that seems to have changed Mel Gibson's life apparently began as any ordinary evening. He visited a Los Angeles restaurant, where the owner said Gibson drank water and ate appetizers.

Then it was off to Malibu, and a popular nightspot called Moonshadows.

In cell phone video obtained by TMZ.com, the star looked to be in high spirits, holding what appeared to be bottled water. Witnesses, though, said he seemed tipsy and refused offers of a ride home.

By 2 a.m., Gibson was back on the Pacific Coast Highway, and 30 minutes later, he was pulled over by police, who found a tequila bottle in his car.

According to the arresting officer, the Hollywood star was "belligerent" and "continually threatened" him.

But Kimberly Lesak and Julie Smith, two women who talked to Gibson that night, told "Good Morning America" that when they spoke to the star, he was approachable and very friendly, even turning down their offer to buy him a drink.

Lesak, 29, and Smith, 27, said Gibson seemed to be drinking from a bottle of water all night but appeared a little drunk.

"You could tell that he was a bit tipsy, but he was walking straight and walking straight," said Lesak, who works as a headhunter for the finance industry.

Gibson was friendly and outgoing with many bar patrons, the women said. "He was definitely working the crowd," said Lesak.