Mr Gibson was arrested on Friday in Malibu, California

"It's incredibly disappointing somebody of his stature would speak out that way at this sensitive time," Sony Pictures' Amy Pascal told the Los Angeles Times.

"I don't think I want to see any more Mel Gibson movies," veteran presenter Barbara Walters told the ABC network.

Producer Peter Bart, meanwhile, said Mr Gibson had "seriously compromised" his career.

This is a question not of how low you can sink, but how you can dig yourself out of this hole Jeff Berg, ICM

"The critics will forever kill him," he wrote in industry newspaper Variety. "Sectors of the audience will shun his work. Through his incoherent tirades he has betrayed his friends and colleagues."

"I am so sad, so hurt and so disappointed," producer Jerry Weintraub told the Los Angeles Times. "I really feel bad for him as a human being."

His sentiments were echoed in the same newspaper by Jeff Berg, head of the International Creative Management (ICM) talent agency, who said Mr Gibson had created "a first-class mess".

"I hate what he said, and so does he," said Mr Berg, whose agency has represented the Braveheart star for 18 years.

His latest film Apocalypto is released in the US in December

"You cannot spin this. This is a question not of how low you can sink, but how you can dig yourself out of this hole."

"To make all of your money from Jews in Hollywood, and then have a few drinks and say you hate Jews, is shocking," said Arnon Milchan, producer of JFK and LA Confidential.

But Mr Gibson has received support from Oren Aviv, president of Buena Vista Pictures Marketing.

"We all make mistakes and I've accepted his apology to what was a regrettable situation," he told Slate magazine.

"I wish him the very best on his path to healing."