Mel Gibson and His Wife Set to Divorce

Mel Gibson attended Mass on Sunday at a Catholic church that he built in 2005 and, when members of the media and other curious parishioners asked where his wife was, he admitted, "Well, she’s filed for divorce." The news comes as a bit of a shock, as Mel and his wife, Robyn Gibson, have been married – seemingly happily – for 28 years. Last Thursday, however, Robyn signed divorce papers and sought joint custody of their youngest son, Thomas, as well as spousal support (read: alimony).

If that was a surprise, however, it was even more shocking to learn that the couple have been officially separated since August 26, 2006, about a month after Gibson’s infamous run-in with the law for a DUI and the ensuing rant that was laced with expletives and racial slurs. Gibson eventually apologized for his anti-Semitic remarks and cleaned up his act with alcohol, but one can’t but wonder that the separation and now-pending divorce aren’t tied closely to that incident.

A source close to the couple noted that, "They’ll do this amicably. There’s a lot of mutual respect and they’ve worked hard on their marriage and worked hard on their separation. They’ll handle the divorce in the same respectful way." That certainly seems likely, especially given the fact that the couple were seen together at church on Palm Sunday, just a few days before Robyn signed the divorce papers. Mel and Robyn have six other children aside from Thomas, all of whom are adults. They are Milo, 19, Louis, 21, William, 24, twins Edward and Christian, 26 and Hannah, who is 28.