Heartbreaking photo released of Oksana Grigorieva with her teeth broken

The photo we discuss below is on Radar Online. Warning! It’s very disturbing

Mel’s visitation was not stripped in custody hearing yeaterday
Yesterday Mel Gibson was not denied visitation rights with his nine month old daughter, Lucia, after a much-anticipated court hearing in which his estranged wife testified that he never physically harmed her or their seven children. Mel will get daytime visitation and one overnight with the infant per week.

More audio of Mel ranting exists; Radar did not pay for them
This news of course comes at a time when no less that five incredibly abusive and incriminating tapes have been released daily by Radar Online. Radar Online editor Dave Perel was on The Howard Stern show yesterday. MSat listened to the show and told us about it. (You can read a blurb about it on Howard Stern’s site now. There is not a permanent link, but go to “Thursday’s show” at the top.) Perel confirmed that Oksana was not paid by Radar for the very explosive recordings she made of Mel ranting and threatening to kill and bludgeon her. He said that the tapes were given to a friend of Oksana’s for safekeeping should anything happen to her. The story goes that the friend released them to the media instead. Perel said that there are 30 minutes of tapes from Mel and that “All the tapes are in our possession now.” So there are more to look forward to.

Did Oksana demand $10 million from Mel to keep the recordings to herself?
The account from Radar’s editor is not consistent with a new story on TMZ that Oksana allegedly wanted $10 million from Mel to keep the tapes silent. Of course this news is coming from “sources close to Mel” at a time when it would only benefit Mel Gibson to try and smear the woman who has released so much damning evidence against him. They previously lamely tried to claim that the tapes were somehow edited. Even assuming that Oksana wanted a large sum of money for the recordings at one point – it doesn’t mean that Mel isn’t an abuser and it doesn’t mean that she didn’t fear for her life. I’m sure that there will be plenty of people screaming obscenities at the woman and saying she deserved it and look she tried to extort him! Most of those people don’t sound that much different from ranting alcoholic Mel. There’s no way to couch this in any kind of twisted logic, they’re blaming the victim.

Photo of Oksana’s abuse released by Radar
While Radar has more footage of Mel Gibson screaming in a panting rage, they’re probably going to hold off releasing another audio segment today. They just put out a photo of Oksana with her teeth broken and her eyes black and blue. (Update: some people have pointed out that what I thought was bruising around the eyes could simply be a shadow or how she looks without makeup. I think I see bruising, and others agree. Please keep in mind that TMZ is running stories straight from Mel’s camp – they quote “sources close to Mel” – and that Mel’s people are trying to discredit this photo at any cost. Of course they are going to say there is no bruising.)

This picture was allegedly taken by her dentist, at his insistence, after she came to him to fix her crowns. According to Oksana, Mel punched her in the face and broke her teeth while she was holding their baby. Mel half-confirmed this on one of the audio tapes. She asked: “What kind of a man is that who would hit a woman when she is holding a child in her hands, hitting her twice in the face? What kind of a man is that?” He replied “You know what — you f-cking deserved it.”

The photo is so upsetting and it made my stomach churn to see it. I hope that Oksana has good security people around her. Mel has already threatened her with a gun, with a baseball bat upside the head, and with death. We’ve heard him screaming like a crazed animal. For those of you who will say that she somehow deserved it or is playing him or “pushing his buttons,” again I am so deeply sorry for you. I’ve honestly never in my life heard anyone say things that even came a fraction close to being that terrible, mean and threatening. I can’t even remember a movie when I heard someone be so verbally and emotionally abusive. Consider the things he’s said to her along with the detail that he broke her teeth. The man is absolutely capable of worse.

*Please note that I wrote most of this article before the photo of Oksana came out or I would have started the story with the news of that very shocking photo.