Mel Gibson is reportedly in therapy after facing fresh embarrassment over another foul-mouthed outburst.
A friend of the Hollywood star was quoted by US magazine People, saying he was seeking help after the latest furore involving his ex-girlfriend.
The actor’s pal said Mr Gibson was in therapy, adding: “He’s coping as well as can be expected.”
An eight-minute recording of a phone argument between Mr Gibson and his then-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva in which he allegedly tells her she “deserved” to be hit was posted online this week.
In the recording, posted by RadarOnline.com, Ms Grigorieva can be heard chastising him for allegedly punching her in the face and breaking two of her teeth.
“What kind of a man is that?” she is heard saying. “Hitting a woman when she’s holding a child in her hands? Breaking her teeth twice in the face! What kind of man is that?”
Oscar-winning Mr Gibson allegedly responds: “You know what, you ... (expletive) deserved it.”
Last week a recording posted by RadarOnline.com included Mr Gibson allegedly using a racial slur and calling his ex-girlfriend a “prostitute”.
The couple have been locked in a bitter custody dispute over their baby daughter in Los Angeles.
The 40-year-old Russian singer has accused Mr Gibson of domestic violence, prompting police to launch an investigation.
Mr Gibson’s terrible week just got worse as in a fresh recording posted online on Tuesday, the Oscar-winning Braveheart director uses racial language to disparage a Hispanic cleaning lady.
The recording, allegedly made in a screaming phone argument with his Russian-born ex-girlfriend follows the release of earlier rants in which Mr Gibson refers to black people as “niggers”, calls names to Ms Grigorieva.
In one tape Mr Gibson even reportedly threatened to kill Ms Grigorieva. “I’ll put you in a rose garden...,” he cried in one tape, then later says: “You need a bat to the side of the head.”
The recordings were leaked to the celebrity site Radaronline.com, with no indication of where they came from. While they have not been authenticated, Mr Gibson has not issued any denial since they began surfacing last Friday.
Mr Gibson and Ms Grigorieva fathered a girl, Lucia, in October, months after the Mad Max star divorced Robyn, his wife of nearly 30 years and mother of his first seven children.
In the Tuesday recording, Mr Gibson and Ms Grigorieva argue over a woman that cleans their home. Mr Gibson insists the woman can only work for him, but Ms Grigorieva says she needs her more because she is caring for their child.
“I will fire (the cleaning lady) if she’s at your house. I will make it known and fire her. I’ll report her to the people that take money from the wetbacks, OK?” Mr Gibson says.
It was unclear if Mr Gibson was threatening to call immigration authorities to denounce the cleaner, or call people that blackmail illegal immigrants.
In the rant Mr Gibson also gave indications that he is facing money problems. “I’m paying my tax money instead of the credit card (bill). Don’t you get it?!” he screams.
On Monday’s edition of the TV show The View, African-American comedian Whoopi Goldberg defended Mr Gibson.
“I don’t like what he did here but I know Mel, and I know that he’s not a racist,” she said. “You can say he’s being a bone head, but I can’t sit and say that he’s a racist having spent time with him in my house with my kids.”