Hollywood actor Mel Gibson was involved in a minor accident after he lost control of his car and crashed it into the hillside in Malibu in California.

The Braveheart star’s battered Maserati car had to be towed away after the crash Sunday evening. However, Gibson escaped unhurt and was picked up by a friend from the crash site, reports people.com.

A representative for the actor said: “He’s fine.”

According to the California Highway Patrol (CHP) report: “Mel Gibson was alone and driving southbound on Malibu Canyon Road south of the tunnel. For unknown reasons, Mr. Gibson steered his car to the right and struck the rock hillside.”

Gibson, who is fighting a bitter custody battle with ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, also denied to the officer at the scene that he was talking on his cell phone or that he dozed off behind the wheel.

“There were no objective symptoms of intoxication, any level of impairment and we’ve ruled out speeding as well based on the damage to the car, which was moderate. Mr. Gibson was alert, oriented and cooperative,” CHP spokesman Leland Tang said.

Hollywood star Mel Gibson, who is set to be investigated for domestic violence against former lover Oksana Grigorieva, has landed in more trouble with a recording of the actor abusing her, leaked on the web.

The 54-year-old star can be heard unleashing a profanity-laced tirade over how Grigorieva dresses and using derogatory phrases, in the recording posted by Radar Online.

“You go around sashaying in your tight clothes. I won’t stand for that anymore,” Gibson allegedly says in the tape.

“I’m just telling you the truth. I don’t like it. I don’t believe you anymore. I don’t trust you. I dont love you. OK? I will take care of my child but I don’t want you anymore,” he says.

Gibson is being investigated after the Russian beauty alleged in a restraining order filed June 25 that the 54-year-old actor punched her in the face “more than once” on that day, causing a broken tooth, knocking out a veneer and causing a concussion.

Months after his arrest for driving under intoxication, Mel Gibson (51) intends to get on with his career.

The Oscar-winning actor and director has met the conditions set by a court as punishment for his drink-driving arrest last year, said his attorney. Gibson, was ordered to serve three years probation, pay $1,400 (Rs 57,000) in fines and attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings after he was arrested in Malibu, California, in July 2006, for making anti-Semitic slurs.

The judge has ordered Gibson to be present for his next hearing, on February 15, 2008.

The Mel B and Eddie Murphy camps are not on the best of terms.
But according to Mel, before they started fighting, they had been hunky-dory and were planning to tie the knot.
… So what was it that changed his mind?
Mel reckons it was their conflict over his lifestyle. She told Essence.com, “Oh, this was a completely planned pregnancy. This wasn’t some random, ‘Oops I fell over and I’m pregnant.’

“I’m a very independent woman so if you’re trying to control me, that’s not going to happen.”
She said the pair planned to move together to Malibu, but “somehow things got confused along the way because there were certain things that went on in his house with his lifestyle that I wasn’t prepared to be a part of”.

Mel B said they had a “trippy discussion” and “both refused to budge”.
The singer added that “what I said must have hurt” Murphy, “because the guy doesn’t speak about his relationships”.