Oksana Not After Mel Gibson's Money: Lawyers

Attorneys tell "Today" their client didn't release rant tapes

Mel Gibson's baby mama Oksana Grigorieva isn't after the "Braveheart" actor's dough, and don't blame her for the leaked tapes of his frightening rants, her attorneys said in an exclusive interview Wednesday morning on NBC's "Today" show.

“She’s a domestic violence victim, she was beaten, she was terrorized, and yet all the media seems to focus on is whether she extorted Mel Gibson, when in fact it’s just the opposite,” said attorney Daniel Horowitz. “This has never been about money, there’s no chance in my view of anything even close to extortion …This is what happens to domestic violence victims, they’re vilified, and we’re trying to set the record straight.”

Horowitz and fellow attorney Martin Garbus told Meredith Vieira that Grigorieva did not leak the tapes., though they didn't say who might have. The lawyers said the only issue between the former couple is the custody custody dispute over their 10-month-old daughter, Lucia.

However, Los Angeles prosecutors still have issues with their bitter breakup, Horowitz acknowledged.

“The district attorney’s office is in the driver’s seat with this (domestic violence) lawsuit,” he said. Evidence from a domestic violence probe against Grigorieva were turned over to the Los Angeles district attorney’s office Aug. 25.

The allegations of violence stem from tapes leaked by Radar Online beginning July 1, but prior to that, Grigorieva alleged in a restraining order filed June 25 that Gibson punched her in the face "more than once" during a Jan. 6 incident at his Malibu home, breaking a tooth, knocking out a veneer and causing a concussion. Shortly after the restraining order was filed, a Gibson source told People magazine that Gibson was just trying to stop Grigorieva from shaking Lucia "like a ragdoll" and that she was trying to get his money.

Garbus said Grigorieva is a woman of “stature and accomplishment” who had a full life prior to her relationship with Gibson. “She’s not someone who’s being accurately portrayed in the media,” he said.

Selected Reading: TODAY, People, LA Times.

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