Atlanta, GA 12/17/2010 10:53:25 PM
News / Entertainment

Winona Ryder has branded Mel Gibson “homophobic” and “anti-Semitic”.

The ‘Black Swan’ actress had an encounter with the disgraced Hollywood star some years ago at a party where he made offensive jokes about gay people and Jews.

Winona – who is Jewish – said: "I remember, like, fifteen years ago, I was at one of those big Hollywood parties. And he was really drunk. I was with my friend, who's gay. He made a really horrible gay joke.

“And somehow it came up that I was Jewish. He said something about 'oven dodgers,' but I didn't get it. I'd never heard that before. It was just this weird, weird moment. I was like, 'He's anti-Semitic and he's homophobic.' No one believed me!"

Winona – who was arrested for shoplifting in 2001 –admitted she struggled to cope with her fame and had a “semi-breakdown” when she was 23. She also revealed there was a time when she began to rely too heavily on prescription drugs

The 39-year-old actress told America’s GQ magazine: "I got really wiped out, and I had a semi-breakdown. I wasn't sleeping, I didn't know who I was because of different roles.

 “Those things. I think they're more powerful than people think. People think, 'Oh, heroin's the hardest,' but pills can be...

“I broke my arm in two places. For about a month, I had to take it. But then I just kept taking it for, like... maybe three more weeks. But the thing I do remember is that once my arm was OK and they were still there, you kind of like... "

Earlier this year, recordings allegedly of Mel were leaked in which he made a racist and abusive rant during an argument with former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva.

In 2006, Mel was arrested for drink driving and stunned police with an anti-Semitic rant.