Mel Gibson’s former gal pal is being eyed in an extortion plot against the “Lethal Weapon” star, who has been stung by a series of damning, secret tape recordings, officials said yesterday.
In recent weeks, Gibson was publicly humiliated by the leaks of taped telephone calls of the actor hurling every sexist, racist slur in the book.
The actor’s camp has been quietly claiming he was the target of an extortion plot by baby mama Oksana Grigorieva — and now authorities are taking notice.
“We are looking into an extortion allegation that has been brought to our attention,” said LA County Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore.
Gibson’s lawyer declined comment yesterday.
Grigorieva’s side fired back at the “Mad Max” actor, saying he has nothing on her.
“My client, Miss Grigorieva, has repeatedly stated there is no credible evidence whatsoever of extortion by her,” said spokesman Steve Jaffe.
Gibson and Grigorieva are locked in a bitter courtroom battle over custody and child-support payments for their infant daughter. Authorities are looking into allegations that Gibson punched out Grigorieva in January while she was holding their baby.
One legal analyst said an extortion claim is hard to make stick.
“You would need Mel or someone else to say, ‘She threatened me, that she would release these tapes unless I paid her off,’ ” said Loyola Law School professor Stan Goldman.