Mel Gibson is not making a documentary about child sex trafficking

Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson

Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage Mel Gibson

In response to recent reports circulating on social media, a non-profit organization has issued a statement clarifying that actor/director Mel Gibson is not a producer on their upcoming documentary about child sex trafficking.

Tim Ballard of Operation Underground Railroad, a non-profit that "works with law enforcement around the world to extract children from slavery," says that while Gibson is a "personal hero" of his, the actor is not a producer on the four-part documentary series.

"I stand by every word I said in the video circulating around social media. Mel is a personal hero of mine and called me back in 2022 with valuable intelligence regarding children who were rumored to be vulnerable to human traffickers in Ukraine. Using that intelligence, we went to Ukraine, where Operation Underground Railroad, Aerial Recovery Group, and The Nazarene Fund were successful in beginning the process of dismantling a dangerous international pedophile ring," said Ballard in a statement.

He continued, "Mel deserves all the credit for taking the initiative to further the critical work that we do. I am personally grateful for his support as we worked on this documentary, however, reports [that] this four-part series is actually being produced by Mr. Gibson are not accurate. It's being produced by Nick Nanton of DNA Films and includes several executive producers such as Kyle Cease, Tony and Sage Robbins, and other wonderful and talented people."

Gibson's publicist, Alan Nierob, told the Associated Press that his client "is not making any documentary," nor did he "finance any documentary."

The actor and director, who was temporarily ostracized in Hollywood for his racist and anti-semitic rants in the mid-2000s, currently has several projects in the works. He is set to appear in Starz's upcoming John Wick prequel series, The Continental, and will reportedly direct Mark Wahlberg in the upcoming film Flight Risk.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content: