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A legally grave start for ‘Braveheart’ as allegations from Oksana Grigorieva abound.

Mr. wOw was working from home yesterday, after a long weekend of stomach distress. (No, it’s not a hangover, in case you’re thinking of my last post.) So, here I am, watching CNN and MSNBC and FOX and everybody’s pretty sure Mel Gibson’s career is over, finally. I think not. Alas.

Mr. Gibson is under fire (again) because his Russian baby mama – for whom he left his long-suffering wife and mother of his seven children – has released ugly tape recordings of Mel, obviously enraged and under the influence, berating her in all manner of vile ways. The once-handsome, now alcohol-ravaged actor uses racist terms, threatens her with rape, threatens to kill her and burn down her house. Mel’s vicious rant stems from a custody battle over the unmarried couple’s eight-month-old child.

The mother – “singer” Oksana Grigorieva – wants a chunk of Mel’s multibillion-dollar fortune and, natch, proper child support. They have been a couple for roughly – very roughly, apparently! – a year and half.

Ms. Grigorieva certainly deserves something for sleeping with Mel Gibson for a year. A medal, to begin with. But these secret recordings should have been a part of her private negotiations with Mr. Gibson and his lawyers, not made public. This was not, after all, something he said on the stage of the Kodak Theater on Oscar night. Not only does our little Russian kotlety (meatball) seem too eager to score more than a few million, but a trifle vindictive. (She has also claimed he knocked out her two front teeth, but so far has yet to produce any medical evidence.)

Still, a woman has to do what she has to do, not to go back to being a Slavic chanteuse with a child to raise. Not that Oksana is a stranger to celebrity men. She cohabitated with actor Timothy Dalton for a few years and has a child by ITAL him. ITAL Nobody on either side of that relationship needed emergency dental work.

As for Mr. Gibson – I am shocked – SHOCKED! – that he used the foulest language and imagery, including the N word. Who doesn’t know at this point what kind of man Gibson is? His remarks about homosexuals (for which he refused to apologize); his drunken anti-Semitic rant (for which his late agent Ed Limato advised him to apologize); the “my wife will go to hell” statement (because she is not the good Catholic he is); and now this. Gibson is a tormented, angry person, self-destructive to the max. Drink hasn’t helped. A porn star has also come forward to bolster Oksana’s claims that Mel was a scary guy who refused to wear condoms. Perhaps Oksana should get herself tested for STDs.

At age 55 (Now that is shocking. He looks 65!), Mel could go on forever, as male stars can. And guess what? He will. He will produce his own movies and distribute them. As I said in my post a month ago about the firing of Helen Thomas – if she goes, why is Glenn Beck still working? Why does Hollywood still want Mel Gibson? Much has been made of his talent agency dropping him. But that is the personal animus of William Morris Agency CEO Ari Emanuel (Rahm’s brother) who wanted Mel out after the 2006 anti-Semite rant, but was prevented from acting so long as Mel’s agent, Ed Limato, was on the case. With Limato dead, Ari could deal with Mel as he wanted.

If you think Mel is sitting around worrying, forget it. He couldn’t care less. He’s probably put in a call to Jodie Foster, the director of “The Beaver,” a family comedy, and apologized for probably ruining the box office of that one. The movie has been described as “whimsical” – not an adjective ever associated with Gibson to begin with. (Hard to believe that an intelligent lesbian like Jodie is actually good friends with Mel – they’ve worked together in the past. But there is simply no accounting for taste.)

To think, Mel once made a movie called “What Women Want” in which his character evolved from piggish guy to sensitive human being. Acting! He deserved his Oscar for that one.

The next time Mel decides to star in a testosterone-heavy action flick, a large male audience will show up. Sad to say, many think Mel is “the man” because of the way he spoke to his ex-lover. And he can continue to produce megahits like “Passion of the Christ” and “Apocalypto.”

Not a good week for womankind. Roman Polanski won’t face the music. And Charlie Sheen is still fighting to escape punishment on his own felony-menacing, third-degree assault and criminal mischief charges.

What do women want? In certain instances, a lot of Lorena Bobbitt channeling.

UPDATE! The latest from the Mel front. Newest tapes released seem to have Mel admitting to hitting Oksana. “You deserved it!” He says. AND a report just surfaced on TMZ that Ms. Grigorieva told her dentist that Mel had been the cause of one lost tooth and another chipped. If the dentist is willing to testify, we are bound be treated to another Mel mug shot – and pretty soon! – and possible jail time for assault. Perhaps there is a Higher Power.

If Mel hit her – if any man hits any woman – he deserves to serve time. And, like the much less violent Lindsay Lohan, Mel should also be forced into rehab. He appears a danger to himself and others.

That said, Oksana has not roused Mr. wOw’s sympathetic nature. And if she thinks she’s getting a dime from him now …