Team Oksana Says She Was "Terrorized" by Mel Gibson

New lawyers go on Today show in attempt to rebrand beleaguered Grigorieva

By Marianne Garvey Sep 22, 2010 2:57 PMTags
Mel Gibson, Oksana GrigorievaMichael Kovac/FilmMagic

Things Oksana Grigorieva's lawyers think we should know: She did not extort Mel Gibson. She never leaked the audio tapes of him screaming at her. Oh, and she's on Josh Groban's new album. 

Daniel Horowitz and Martin Garbus, the lawyers representing Gibson's ex, appeared on the Today show to defend their client this morning, saying she was "terrorized" by the movie star and explaining that she's her own woman who just likes playing the piano. 

"She's a domestic violence victim, she was beaten, she was terrorized, and yet all the media seems to focus on is whether she extorted Mel Gibson, when in fact it's just the opposite," Horowitz told cohost Meredith Vieira.

"This has never been about money, there's no chance in my view of anything even close to extortion…This is what happens to domestic violence victims, they're vilified, and we're trying to set the record straight."

The lawyers also reiterated that despite being one of the only people with access to the tapes of Gibson screaming at her, Grigorieva did not record them for public consumption.

"Anybody who is beaten or threatened has a right to document it," said Horowitz. "Otherwise it's Mel Gibson, one of the biggest superstars in the world against this lone woman. Anyone who says she did this in exchange for money is a liar. They'll pay a price. Those are worth a million to whoever leaked them and she is broke. She tried to hold back any negative publicity about Mel."

The attorney blamed an unknown party for releasing the recordings, saying they have their suspicions as to who the culprit is.

"Many people had access and we have strong suspicions as to where they leaked from. Along with the letters we think we know who leaked them, what we can do I don't know."

Garbus, meanwhile, said that Grigorieva is "her own woman" who began playing piano at 3 and studied and graduated school in Moscow.

"She also attended the Royal School in London and Trinity. This is a woman who has a life of her own, which is not a part of Hollywood. She is not someone who is being accurately portrayed in the media. She is a woman of stature and accomplishment."

He also plugged Groban's album Awake, saying Grigorieva wrote the song "Un Dia Llegara" on it.

Prosecutors have not filed any extortion charges against Grigorieva, nor have they filed any domestic violence charges against Gibson. The only thing the two are currently battling out in front of a judge is the custody dispute over the battling duo's daughter, 10-month-old Lucia.

"The district attorney's office is in the driver's seat," said Horowitz. "He [Gibson] has to be brought to justice for what he did."

Gibson's camp is so far mum on the latest Grigorieva offensive.

Before appearing on Today, Horowitz explained to E! News why Grigorieva and her new legal team decided to go on the morning show and attempt to give her image a serious makeover.

"I would say that she never planned a media campaign but a media campaign came up against her. When you have a mother and an artist that was in love and there's a breakup and the other side is a billionaire, who hires a team of professionals. He has six lawyers!"

—Additional reporting by Soo Youn