Robin Williams Makes Mea Culpa Rounds
Robin Williams's turning his latest publicity tour into a referendum on his recent trip to rehab.
The Oscar-winning funnyman, making the rounds touting his new comedy, Man of the Year, acknowledged that he had fallen off the wagon earlier this year but said he didn't decide to seek treatment until witnessing the aftermath of Mel Gibson's booze-fueled meltdown--what Williams termed a "big wake-up call."
"Well, if [rehab] was good enough for him, I'll go," Williams, 55, told Access Hollywood. "I just think it was like, 'Well, he's in, let's go now.' "
"If you're violating your standards faster than you can lower them, time to go away," said the manic comedian, who had been sober for 20 years up before his slip-up.
Gibson launched into an anti-Semitic rant following his arrest and soon after sought treatment. Within days, he issued an apology for his behavior.
A week later, in a bit of improvisation that caught fans off guard, Williams went public with his proactive decision to seek professional help for his own lingering addiction.
"I think it allowed me a certain anonymity," the Awakenings star told People.
Never one to let a serious subject get in the way of comedy, the irrepressible entertainer denied gossip reports that he and Gibson were staying in the same rehab facility.
"No, we never met, and we were supposedly keeping correspondence. But I have Jewish agents so I haven't gotten any messages," he quipped to the magazine.
Donning an Aussie accent, Williams then improvised a scene in which Gibson calls after his arrest.
" 'Hi, Robin, I'm on the Coast Highway, come pick me up. Don't worry!"
Williams also noted that "God does has a sense of humor, because [Gibson] was stopped by the only Jewish highway patrolman."
Dialing back the cracks, Williams told Extra that he appreciated the support of fans.
"Thanks to everyone all over the world for their cards and letters. It was very loving and powerful," he said.
The alcohol treatment hasn't curbed Williams' busy schedule. He has four projects in the pipeline for the coming months, including portraying President Theodore Roosevelt in the Ben Stiller comedy Night at the Museum; playing a wizard in the fantasy drama August Rush; starring as a marriage counselor helping a couple to the altar in License to Wed; and lending his voice to the animated tale Happy Feet. He's also teaming up again with pals Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg to headline a new Comic Relief benefit set to air Nov. 18 on HBO, with proceeds going to Hurricane Katrina rebuilding efforts.
Meanwhile, Man of the Year, in which Williams stars as a Jon Stewart-esque fake newsman who makes a real run for the presidency and wins, hits theaters Oct. 13.
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