The feud between screenwriter Joe Eszterhas and actor and director Mel Gibson continues, and this time Mr. Eszterhas has made public an audio recording that his son Nick, who is a teenager, surreptitiously captured in his iPod at Mr. Gibson’s Hacienda Dorada in Playa Barrigona, Guanacaste last December.

The audio file and transcript were published by entertainment news site The Wrap. It is more than two minutes in length, and contains the sounds of a very angry man addressing others while trampling through a living space. The expletive-heavy accusations are presumably directed at Mr. Eszterhas, who had not completed the script for The Maccabees, a film project that Mr. Gibson would direct for the Warner Brothers studio.

Mr. Eszterhas eventually turned in the script months later, and the studio suspended the project upon first read. The tabling of the project is apparently what prompted the two Hollywood players to trade barbs online.

Most of what is heard on the recording is of the four-letter word variety. None of the anti-Semitic rants that Mr. Eszterhas has accused Mr. Gibson of can be heard. If anything, the audio recording denotes a hoarse-voiced man with a faint Australian accent having a breakdown.

Legal Action Considered?

Online Hollywood gossip tabloid, Mr. Paparazzi cited an unnamed source close to Mr. Gibson, who claims that he may be looking into the “laws of Costa Rica to work out if recording laws were violated and if Mel’s right of privacy was violated by the release of it.”

A previous article published by The Costa Rica Star mentioned that a secret recording violates Article 24 of our Constitution, insofar as the rights of people in our country to enjoy a certain expectation of privacy. Sala Cuarta (Constitutional Hall) has also ruled upon the matter, explicitly on the capturing of private conversations on any medium without the consent of all parties involved.

There is also the matter of Articles 145 through 147 of our Criminal Code, which deal with Crimes Against Honor. These articles cover offenses such as defamation, dishonor, falsity, tarnishing of reputation, etc. In Costa Rica, as in other Latin American countries, even the survivors can file charges against those who disrespect the memory of the dearly departed.

The resentful exchange that Mr. Eszterhas and Mr. Gibson have conducted online could fall under Crimes Against Honor if proven to be a spiteful affront to reputation. Filing a criminal complaint may seem excessive, particularly when a minor (Mr. Eszterhas’ son) is involved; however, Title VII of the Criminal Code allows for reparation of civil consequences of offenses contained therein.

The Maccabees film project, if completed, would be a historic telling of the life of Judah Maccabee (Judas Maccabeus), an important heroic and religious icon of the Jewish people. According to sources close to the project, the film would be produced and directed in a manner similar to previous historical projects by Mr. Gibson, such as: Apocalypto, Braveheart, and Passion of the Christ.