Gibson blames his tirade on criticism of his movie...

Let's face it, his blood alchohol level wasn't that high...

He said his words may have come from resentment following criticism he received before the release of "The Passion of the Christ."

"Now even before anyone saw a frame of film, for an entire year, I was subjected to a pretty brutal sort of public beating," he said. "And during the course of that, I think I probably had my rights violated in many different ways as an American, as an artist, as a Christian, just as a human being."

The 50-year-old Gibson said his tirade also may have been triggered by Israel's war in Lebanon. The Middle East has troubled him for a long time.

"I remember thinking when I was 20, man, that place is going to drag us all into the black hole, you know, just the difficulty over there," he said.

Asked by Sawyer what Jews are responsible for, Gibson replied: "What are they responsible for? I think that they're not blameless in the conflict. There's been aggression and retaliation and aggression. It's just part of being in conflict, and being at war. So, they're not blameless.