During a Thursday appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, actor Mel Gibson promoted the use of ivermectin to treat cancer, accused the pope of covering up pedophilia in the Catholic Church, and railed against California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D)—all as his Malibu home, unbeknownst to him, burned to the ground.
During the 2 hour and 20 minute episode, Gibson and Rogan criticized Newsom’s handling of the wildfires decimating southern California.
The fires, which have devastated the Los Angeles area and burned more than 35,000 acres of land, killed at least 10 people and destroyed more than 10,000 structures.
“In 2019, I think Newsom said ‘you know I’m going to take care of the forest and maintain the forest and do all that kind of stuff’—he didn’t do anything,” Gibson blasted, before joking that: “And then I think all our tax dollars probably went to Gavin’s hair gel.”
But the pair discussed other topics beyond the fires, including allegations that the pope himself was covering up pedophilia in the Catholic Church and the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, which Gibson said was a cure for cancer.
“I have three friends. All three of them had stage four cancer,” Gibson said. “All three of them don’t have cancer right now at all. And they had some serious stuff going on.”
Asked what they did to get rid of the cancer, Gibson replied that “they took some of what you’ve heard they’ve taken”: ivermectin and fenbendazole.
“They drank hydrochloride something or other,” he added, possibly referencing hydroxychloroquine.
Ivermectin gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, when right-wingers promoted its usage as a treatment for the virus. Rogan was among one of the most prominent advocates of the drug.
The Food and Drug Administration has not approved ivermectin to treat COVID.
During its surge in popularity, the agency received multiple reports of people requiring medical attention or hospitalization after self-medicating with ivermectin. The anti-parasitic drug is used in both humans and animals, with some procuring versions meant for horses.
Nonetheless, it remains a favorite drug for some on the right—though studies about its efficacy against COVID remain mixed.
However, for cancer, studies indicate ivermectin may provide “powerful antitumor effects,” though some doctors caution that there are yet to be clinical trials that yielded successful results in humans.
Gibson’s comments on the podcast about ivermectin quickly drew backlash, with one critic saying that “if this was remotely true, some conservative could fund a clinical trial, run it through peer review and release the results to the world.”
“You think the companies that make Ivermectin and Fenbendazole wouldn’t put these drugs through clinical trials if there was even a tiny, tiny chance that they could ‘cure’ stage 4 cancer?” echoed another X user. “Brother, I am running out of bridges.”
“Ivermectin does not cure cancer,” rebuked one doctor on X. “Ivermectin does not treat Covid. Ivermectin is a worm treatment. WHAT IS THESE PEOPLE’S OBSESSION WITH IVERMECTIN???!!!”
But as Gibson was making the controversial comments, he had bigger problems on hand.
His $14.5 million home in Malibu was burning down.
“I was kind of ill at ease while we were talking because I knew my neighborhood was on fire, so I thought, ‘I wonder if my place is still there,’” Gibson said in an interview with NewsNation late Thursday. “But when I got home, sure enough, it wasn’t there.”
“It was completely toasted. I’ve never seen such a complete burn,” he continued. “It’s like someone did it on purpose to really destroy every aspect of it.”
Gibson went on to say that he had lived there for about 14 or 15 years and lost a lot of personal items he can’t get back.
“Everything from photographs to files to, you know, just personal things that I had from over the years, and clothing, and you know, cool stuff,” he said. “But you know, hey, and that can all be replaced, these are only things, and the good news is that those in my family and those I love are all well and we’re all happy and healthy and out of harm’s way.”
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