According to a police report, Gibson asked the officer if he was Jewish and said: "F****** Jews. The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world."
Oldman thinks that Gibson should not have been chastised and those who have are "f****** hypocrites".
"I don't know about Mel. He got drunk and said a few things, but we've all said those things," the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy actor told Playboy.
"We're all f****** hypocrites. That's what I think about it. The policeman who arrested him has never used the word n***** or that f****** Jew?
"I'm being brutally honest here. It's the hypocrisy of it that drives me crazy.
"Or maybe I should just strike that and say 'the N word' and 'the F word', although there are two F words now."
Oldman sympathised with Gibson, describing how he has become "an outcast, a leper".
"Mel Gibson is in a town that's run by Jews and he said the wrong thing because he's actually bitten the hand that I guess has fed him - and doesn't need to feed him anymore because he's got enough dough," he continued.
"He's like an outcast, a leper, you know?
"But some Jewish guy in his office somewhere hasn't turned and said, 'That f****** kraut' or 'F*** those Germans,' whatever it is? We all hide and try to be so politically correct. That's what gets me."
"You have to be very careful about what you say," he continued. "I do have particular views and opinions that most of this town doesn't share, but it's not like I'm a fascist or a racist. There's nothing like that in my history."
A spokesperson for Oldman denied that the actor has defended Gibson in any way:
"On the topic of Mel Gibson, Gary does not 'defend' him," Oldman's spokesperson said.
"Noteworthy, however, is that other artists - notably Robert Downey Jr and Jodie Foster - have loudly defended Mel Gibson spanning the past few years."
* Read the full interview in Playboy's July/August double issue.
- Independent
