Mel Gibson not sweet on honey reference

You may sell your honey, but you don’t have the freedom to make any reference to the film “Braveheart.”

So says actor Mel Gibson, who threatened to sue an organic, home-based honey-maker for making the connection that “Mel” sounds similar to the Spanish word for “honey” — “miel” — and including a popular scene from the Hollywood hit on the product labels, along with the words “Only to the Brave.”

The actor didn’t think “Miel Gibson” was funny, according to the New York Times, which wrote that Yohana Agurto, an unemployed teacher in Chile, started selling honey to make ends meet in the pandemic.

Ms. Agurto last week received an email with the subject line: “Cease and Desist/Miel Gibson.”

“We are counsel to Mel Gibson,” said the letter, which was sent by a Los Angeles attorney whose firm represents several celebrities. “It has come to my attention that you are illegally using Mr. Gibson’s name and/or likeness and/or biography to market or sell honey products.”