The global pandemic is truly global and nobody has been completely safe from it. A number of major names including Tom Hanks and Idris Elba publicly revealed their diagnosis when they tested positive for COVID-19, but it turns out another big name also contracted the disease around the same time but did not reveal his situation. As we have recently learned that Lethal Weapon star Mel Gibson spent a week in the hospital due to coronavirus back in April.
A representative of Mel Gibson recently confirmed to People that the actor tested positive back in April and was hospitalized for a week, but has since made a complete recovery. He's tested negative for the virus on multiple occasions since and currently tests positive for antibodies.
Mel Gibson's positive test came about a month after Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson revealed their positive diagnosis, the pair was in Australia in preparation for Hanks to begin filming a new movie. Mel Gibson was diagnosed and treated at a hospital in the Los Angeles area.
While Mel Gibson has been flying a bit under the radar in recent years as far as Hollywood goes, it's still a little surprising that he was able to be treaded for COVID-19 in a hospital in April and somehow nobody learned that it happened until the end of July. While Gibson being hospitalized certainly indicates that the virus hit him a bit harder than it hits others, it doesn't sound like he was in any particular danger from the virus. Either way, it doesn't sound like he's dealing with any lasting effects, which has unfortunately been the case for many who otherwise recover from it.
Other celebrities like the previously mentioned Tom Hanks and Idris Elba were able to simply quarantine at home for the duration of their virus and hospitalization was not required.
With COVID-19 cases are on the rise in many places, Hollywood is still largely shut down, and so we probably won't see other celebrity names added to the list of those dealing with the virus, unless there are others, like Mel Gibson, who have dealt with it previously who were able to keep things quiet. Some film productions, like the Avatar sequels, have been able to get back underway because they're filming in New Zealand where the virus is under control. Other productions in some places have begun to get back underway with new safety precautions in place, but most are still playing the waiting game to see if and when it will be safe to get back to work.
Mel Gibson has a number of projects in the pipeline including the Joe Carnahan directed Boss Level with Frank Grillo, which is scheduled for release this year, though certainly, we'll have to wait and see if that actually happens. He's also reported to be directing a remake of The Wild Bunch.
