Mel Gibson Ordered to Whip Out His Checkbook

Actor must pay back child support, judge says he'll revisit visitation issue at a later date

By Natalie Finn, Soo Youn Nov 11, 2010 12:36 AMTags
Mel GibsonBrian Zak/Sipa Press

As far as confrontations with Mel Gibson go, this one was pretty uneventful.

The actor and baby mama Oksana Grigorieva were in court Wednesday for a closed-door custody hearing, the first time Gibson appeared in person to address the ongoing dispute.

But when your ex doesn't want your daughter staying at your house overnight, you show up.

Though Grigorieva was hoping to stop Gibson from having overnight visits with their 1-year-old daughter Lucia, claiming she was concerned that a nanny was the primary caregiver and Lucia was isolated in her dad's big house, L.A. Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon said he would address their visitation issues at a later date.

Early next year, perhaps.

"I'm holding up," Grigorieva told reporters as she waited to be escorted back into the courtroom following their lunch break.

A source confirms to E! News that Gordon did, however, order Gibson to pay roughly $60,000 in back child support. We hear that the Lethal Weapon star held off on the $20,000 monthly payments while he figured out whether he could subtract the $6,000 he was alreadying kicking in for the house Grigorieva lives in with her mother and Lucia.

Gordon says the $6,000 was not deductible.

Also today, the judge denied Team Gibson's request for a gag order that would prevent all parties—including their lawyers—from discussing the case publicly, according to Grigorieva's attorney Martin Garbus.

"But the judge sealed the depositions," he said.

Earlier today, Grigorieva attorney Alan Shiftman was spotted serving Gibson attorney Blair Berk with a subpoena in the hallway outside the courtroom.

Today's session ended just before 5 p.m., with Gibson and Grigorieva going their separate ways. Another hearing is scheduled for Nov. 22.