Mel Gibson and much-younger girlfriend finally announce separation

It’s been quite a year for Mel Gibson, capped by news Tuesday that the veteran Hollywood filmmaker and his girlfriend, Rosalind Ross, had separated after nine years together.

Actually, in reporting this news, People magazine also revealed that the 69-year-old Gibson and the 35-year-old Ross had actually gone their separate ways a year ago. But they kept it quiet, as they said they had continued to co-parent their 8-year-old son.

“Although it’s sad to end this chapter in our lives, we are blessed with a beautiful son and will continue to be the best parents possible,” Gibson, the “Braveheart” Oscar winner, and Ross, a writer and former champion equestrian vaulter, said in a joint statement to People.

It’s not clear when they split, but it appears that it was after Gibson lost his Malibu home in the wildfires that swept through Los Angeles early last year. The one-time box-office star had been away from Los Angeles when the Palisades fire raced out of the Santa Monica Mountains on Jan. 7, 2025 and destroyed large areas of Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Topanga. During a Jan. 9  appearance on NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas Reports, Gibson spoke of still being in a relationship with Ross, as he confirmed that she and their son had evacuated before the fire reached their oceanside estate.

“The good news is that those in my family and those I love are all well, and we’re all happy and healthy and out of harm’s way, that’s all I can care about, really,” Gibson during the interview.

After losing his home, Gibson could also console himself with news from incoming President Donald Trump, whose 2024 re-election he supported. Shortly before Trump retook office last January, he named Gibson one of his three “special ambassadors” to Hollywood, sharing the honor with fellow actors and Trump supporters Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone, The Guardian and other outlets reported.  It was never made clear what Gibson’s duty would be as a special ambassador, except to help make Hollywood “BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE,” as Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Gibson and Ross began dating in 2014 after meeting through mutual friends, according to People. He was 60, and she was 26. She soon became the mother of his ninth child, and was his third major relationship since he became a major Hollywood star.

Gibson met and married his first and only wife, Robyn, in 1980 when he was an up-and-coming actor in such Australian films as “Mad Max” and “The Year of Living Dangerously.” Together, they had one daughter and six sons, including twins, as Gibson pursued box-office success and critical acclaim in America in such films as “Lethal Weapon” and “Braveheart.”

They separated in 2006, shortly after Gibson’s infamous arrest for drunk driving in Malibu when he was caught on tape spewing antisemitic comments at police officers. When they divorced, Robyn Gibson ended up walking away with more than $400 million, or half of the money Gibson earned during his Hollywood career.

Gibson’s second major relationship, with songwriter and pianist Oksana Grigorieva, also landed him in controversy after she accused him of domestic violence and recorded him, allegedly making racist and sexist comments to her. Gibson agreed to plead no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge and he and Grigorieva reached a settlement in 2011 over finances and custody of their then-3-year-old daughter — his eighth child.

Several years after Gibson and Ross began dating, they welcomed their son Lars, just days before Gibson learned in 2017 that he had been nominated for a best director Academy Award for “Hacksaw Ridge.” It was his second nomination for direction, after 1986’s “Braveheart.”

“What could be more exciting than listening to the nominations being announced while holding my newborn son,” Gibson said in a statement at the time.

Even though Gibson has become a controversial Hollywood figure and “canceled” by some in the industry, he continues to stay busy, as both an actor and as a director. “Flight Risk,” his seventh feature film as a director, was released this summer, and he’s working on “The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One,” a sequel to his 2004 epic biblical drama, “The Passion of the Christ.”