Mel Gibson has blamed the negative critical reaction to his controversial film The Passion Of The Christ on his notorious drunken anti-Semitic rant earlier this year.

The Lethal Weapon star told police �Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world� when arrested for drink-driving in July, but Gibson, 50, says the outburst was prompted by lingering resentment that his 2004 movie was itself charged with anti-Semitism.

He told Diane Sawyer on �Good Morning America� yesterday, �I was subjected to a pretty brutal public beating. The film came out and, you could have heard a pin drop. Not even the crickets weren't chirping. But the other thing I never heard was one single word of apology.

"I thought I dealt with that stuff. But the human heart can bear the scars of resentment, and it will come out when you're overwrought and you take a few drinks."

However, the Australian also said he was �ashamed� of the comments, which he said he did not believe, and also denied being influenced by his father, Hutton, who has publicly doubted the Holocaust.