Are The Leaked Mel Gibson Audiotapes Illegal Recordings?

The character assassination of Mel Gibson has been unmerciful and brutal. Leaked audiotapes allegedly reveal the actor saying things like, “I deserve to be blown first! Ok, I’ll burn the goddamn house up, but blow me first! How dare you!??!” and “You look like a f*cking bitch in heat. And if you get raped by a pack of ni**ers it will be your fault. Alright? Because you provoked it.”

Since his maniacal rantings were leaked online, the Braveheart actor has been dropped by his agency and universally condemned by the public. But are the audiotapes of his racist and misogynistic ramblings actually legal?

Most states allow someone to secretly record a phone call as long as they are a part of the conversation. This is known as one party consent, which means you can record your phone conversations even if the person you’re talking to is unaware of the wiretap. However, California law requires two-party consent, which means that without both parties giving explicit permission it is illegal to record a conversation.

It seems rather unlikely that Mel Gibson would have given the go ahead to record the leaked conversations. So if the phone calls were recorded in California, the question remains, are the leaked tapes actually legal?

Maybe that’s the reason these tapes are being released on Radar Online and not in a court room. If Osanka did violate California’s two party consent law then she might be in legal trouble herself. But until more is known about the circumstances surrounding the recording it’s difficult to know if she violated California law. Either way, the damage to Mel Gibson’s career is probably permanent.