“The Cleaner,” which follows the adventures of an “extreme interventionist,” is a slightly exasperating new series from A&E — its first original scripted show in six years, the network is proud to point out. There are some good things here, and some that are less good: It’s a mix of the professionally done, the professionally overdone, the reasonably convincing, the surprisingly hackneyed and the occasionally absurd.

We are told by an opening title card that William Banks, who is played by Benjamin Bratt, formerly of “Law & Order,” “has saved 257 people from addiction to drugs, sex and gambling.” (I love the specificity of that figure.) “He’s not a cop,” the title continues. “He’s not a superhero. He’s just a man with a Calling.” Yet he has made himself hard to find, so he’s a man with a calling whom you really have to want to call.

The show is loosely based on the real-life work of Warren Boyd — same initials, see — who is the man Mel Gibson brought to Courtney Love’s Beverly Hills hotel room a few years back to convince her to go into treatment. (Love later recommended him to Whitney Houston.) A figure obviously to be reckoned with, he has developed, according to an A&E news release, “a partly secretive, partly incomprehensible, very nontraditional method that he employs on a daily basis to help others get clean.” Those others range from “high-profile names to perfect strangers.”

Continue »

Mel Gibson has twin sons who turn 26 this year, Edward and Christian, who both have stints in rehab. Ed was out of rehab late last year for an alcohol and cocaine addiction, and Christian got a DUI in 2006 and checked into rehab in late January of this year. Mel, who has also has a well publicized DUI under his belt, has recently befriended pop singer Britney Spears, 26. Britney has spent time at Mel’s estate in Costa Rica and has been seen out to dinner with him and his family.

While some speculated that Mel wanted to help Britney with her personal problems, and others wondered if he was trying to convert her to his unique brand of Catholicism, Mel may have had another motivation for spending time with Britney. The National Enquirer reports that Mel tried to set Britney up with the less messed-up twin her age, Edward, but that Britney wasn’t having that. Mel’s son Edward is working his recovery program and The Enquirer says Mel believed he would be a good influence on her.

[Mel Gibson] believed his son Edward – who was in rehab last year for cocaine and alcohol addition – had turned his life around and could help Britney do the same, an insider told The Enquirer.

“Mel felt Ed would be a great influence on Brit, and if the relationship turned to romance, all the better,” said the insider.

So Gibson arranged a meeting between the pair at Britney’s home in the Hollywood Hills last March, said the source.

“He sincerely believed that his son could help Britney stay on the straight and narrow and that they might hit it off as a couple as well,” the insider explained.

But Britney, 26, gave the cold shoulder to Mel and Edward …

“She hid from them most of the night,” revealed the insider. “Mel and his son spent most of the evening talking to her bodyguards.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, July 7, 2008]

There must have been no hard feelings between Britney and Mel after she tried to avoid the set up with one of his sons. She was seen at his Costa Rican getaway in mid-May. Britney also brought along a man with whom she’s been romantically linked in the past, agent Jason Trawick. Maybe Britney and Jason were already dating at that point and she wasn’t open to meeting Mel’s son or maybe she just wasn’t interested in the guy. Can you imagine thinking it’s a good idea to set up Britney Spears with a member of your family, though? At that point it had only been two months since she had that big melt down and was hospitalized.

Source: Info Jeunes

The National Enquirer are prone to lying, so take this ’story’ for what it’s worth.

Hollywood star Mel Gibson is nursing a new heartbreak – a second son has reportedly checked into rehab.

Just three months after his 25 year-old son Edward checked into rehab for drink and drug problems, his twin brother Christian has checked into the same nerve center. According to US sheet The Enquirer, Christian entered rehab to battle his addiction to crack, pills and booze.

Edward was admitted to the Cri-Help center in North Hollywood back in September 2007.

Now the Enquirer claims that Christian likewise checked in scarcely before Christmas. Mad Soap star Gibson, world Health Organization was himself ordered to enroll in an alcohol maltreat program after his DUI arrest and anti-semitic rant back in July 2006, is footing the bill. He has been paying $5,five hundred a month for each twin in a bid to help them reclaim.

The costs are far less than the usual $25,000 – $30,000 it costs to stay in such celebrity friendly rehab centres like Promises in Malibu. Truck driver Tom Paige was in Cri-Help rehab centre at the time when both twins were being treated. Paige, 40, from a resident at the centre from September 2007 to earlier this month and met both Gibson boys. He told the Enquirer that both twins chequered into the center voluntarily after their famous dad got tough with them. Satchel Paige told the Inquirer: “Christian was placid in there when I left. “He entered in December after he was thrown and twisted out of a house he’d been staying at in Malibu for non paying his snag. “He told me he’d been homeless and living in his cart – and that he was addicted to crack, pills and intoxicant. “His brother Eddie entered first for a month in Sept, with alcohol and cocaine addiction.” Eddie was discharged in Oct but he non-effervescent continued to wait on twice weekly ‘alumni meetings’ which included bingo games.

Paige chatted to the gemini and watched them together – and told the Inquirer that the Althea Gibson boys had non always been a model of brotherly love. Paige added: “Eddie and his comrade were not speaking after they fought in a club over something stupid. Eddie knocked his brother out. Now they’ve kissed and made up and Christian showed me the scar on his lip.” Both of Gibson’s sons seem to have finally conquered their battle with drink and drugs. But Paige told the Enquirer that they were both in a ‘poor shape’ when they first checked into Cri-Help. He said: “Eddie was a mess.

He didn’t speak to anyone for years, he had his sweater hood over his head for the first 48 hours. One time when I asked Eddie how his papa was, he laughed grimly and said: ‘Well he hasn’t fucked up recently!’ Christian had a boneheaded beard and was only 120 pounds. He put on 30 pounds piece being treated.” Father of seven Gibson and his wife Robyn visited the twins regularly added Satchel Paige: “When they came for Halloween and one of the patients in a play was appareled as a warrior with a steel, Mel said: ‘That guy was great!’ “And the family was also there for Christmas dinner. All I saw was love and laughter.

Source: DVD Movies Reviews

Mel Gibson’s 25-year-old son has reportedly cut ties with his family in a bid to battle substance abuse alone in rehab.

Edward Gibson checked into California’s Cri-Help clinic in late September (07) and has told staff he won’t see visitors, according to the National Enquirer. The publication reports Gibson’s son has been battling an addiction to cocaine and alcohol.

A source says, “He’s very self-conscious and finds it difficult to speak about his background, which is thwarting his recovery.”

The insider claims Edward – one of Gibson’s seven kids – took the decision to seek help after fearing he’d kill someone by climbing behind the wheel of a car while drunk or high.

A friend tells the Enquirer he insisted on cutting all ties to his friends and family because he doesn’t want “any distractions”.

The source says, “He told a pal, ‘I know my dad loves me, but this is something I have to do by myself for myself. My dad is just going to have to chill.’” And friends are confident Edward won’t become another “victim”. The insider adds, “He doesn’t want to be written off as just another kid of a celebrity who spun out on drugs.”

Source: Contact Music / National Enquirer