Los Angeles, Aug. 4 (AP): Several of Mel Gibson’s friends say he is a “different person” when he is drinking, but they do not believe he is anti-Semitic.

Film producer Dean Devlin said he and his wife are Jewish, and he considers Gibson one of his best friends in Hollywood, even after the actor unleashed an anti-Jewish tirade when arrested for drunken driving on July 28.

“If Mel is an anti-Semite, then he spends a lot of time with us, which makes no sense,” Devlin told the Los Angeles Times. He met Gibson while co-producing The Patriot, in which the actor starred.

“But he is an alcoholic, and while that makes no excuse for what he said, as there is no excuse, I believe it was the disease speaking, not the man.”

Jodie Foster said she does not believe drunkenness excuses hurtful remarks, but doubts claims that Gibson is prejudiced against Jews. “Is he an anti-Semite? Absolutely not,” she said. “But it’s no secret that he has always fought a terrible battle with alcoholism.”

Though it was widely believed that Gibson has been sober since the early 1990s, some people close to him say he has been on and off the wagon for years.

“I have been with Mel when he has fallen off, and he becomes a completely different person,” Devlin said. “It is pretty horrifying.”

Gibson was charged this week with two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of alcohol.