Mel Gibson is not producing a docu-series on global child trafficking

Context

In early June 2023, rumors surfaced on social media that actor and film producer Mel Gibson is making a four-part documentary series on the $34 billion global child sex trafficking market. The rumors have seemingly sprung from a talk by Tim Ballard, founder of Operation Underground Railroad, an organization dedicated to fighting child sex trafficking and sexual exploitation. While Ballard is making a documentary on child trafficking, Gibson is not producing it. 

In Fact

Several of the posts claiming Gibson is making the documentary reference a talk Ballard gave at a convention held by the conservative U.S. interest group Utah Eagle Forum on January 7, 2023. Ballard discusses an upcoming documentary series, The Hidden War, and his organization's work in Ukraine and five other countries. 

Ballard recounts how his wife urged him to go to Ukraine after the Russian invasion to extract a dozen children the pair had attempted to adopt. "Within an hour or two of my wife insisting I go to Ukraine, I got a phone call from Mel Gibson," Ballard said. According to Ballard, Gibson wanted him to rescue a group of orphans in Ukraine that Gibson had been supporting. Ballard then asked Gibson to help film the operation, to which Gibson allegedly agreed. "He helped us get set up and start filming. Four months later, what I thought was going to be a documentary about Ukraine ends up being a four-part docu-series," says Ballard. 

In a statement to Logically Facts, Ballard said that he stands by every word he said in the video about Gibson calling him in 2022 with intelligence regarding children rumored to be vulnerable to human traffickers in Ukraine.

However, He clarified that Gibson was not producing the series, saying that "Mel deserves all the credit for taking the initiative to further the critical work that we do. I am personally grateful for his support as we worked on this documentary, however reports this four-part series is actually being produced by Mr. Gibson are not accurate. Nick Nanton of DNA Films is producing it and includes several executive producers such as Kyle Cease, Tony and Sage Robbins, and other wonderful and talented people."

Similarly, Gibson's representative recently told Newsweek that none of the reports of Gibson making a docu-series on child trafficking are accurate, while Gibson's longtime publicist, Alan Nierob, told The Associated Press, "He is not making any documentary." 

Logically Facts reached out to representatives of Gibson for comment. 

Quotes about child trafficking have previously been misattributed to Gibson. In 2022, a viral post on social media alleged that the actor had exposed Hollywood as a hub of "satanic child sacrifice" and that he had called out "the ring of pedophilia." There's no record of Gibson ever making the statements attributed to him. 

The Verdict

Though there is a planned documentary series covering Tim Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad's effort to save children from being trafficked, both Tim Ballard and Gibson's representative have denied reports that Gibson is making the docu-series. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.