The 25th American Cinematheque Award recently honored Robert Downey Jr. for his "life work" and he wanted to use some of that time to encourage us to forgive Mel Gibson for, well, you know —the alleged abuse, death threats, rantings, what have you— because he says Gibson has been a very good friend to him:

Downey was being honored for his life work in Beverly Hills, when Mel took the stage and recalled how he had helped Downey when he was down and out, reflecting that people had warned him of Robert's bad ways, but all Mel could see was a good guy. Then Mel made fun of himself, cautioning the crowd to remember who was making the assessment.

The two had worked together in "Air America," bur more significantly, Mel had posted an insurance bond for Downey when all the movie companies refused because he was such a high risk.

Downey used a metaphor that he and Mel shared, telling the crowd, "When I couldn't get sober, Mel helped me" ... by giving him food and shelter. Downey said Mel told him to find faith and accept responsibility — Mel called it "hugging the cactus."

Then Downey told the Crowd ... Mel hugged the cactus long enough, and the place erupted in applause.

Downey also noted he and Mel shared the same lawyer, publicist and shrink, and said the two of them should stage an intervention for the 3 professionals.

Shannon Dohertymarried fiancéKurt Iswarienko yesterday at a private estate in Malibu. This is the third marriage for Doherty who was previously married to Ashley Hamilton and Paris Hilton's sex-tape uh, "co-star", Rick Salomon.

To her credit, she said she's learned from her mistakes:

"Marriage to me is such a gigantic commitment that it's not something I'd ever go into lightly anymore," she said. "I've learned my lesson."

TMZ refers to Amber Heard as a "lipstick legsbian". Get it? No, really, do you get it? [TMZ]

"My activities tend to revolve around crossword puzzles, reading and playing piano and games with my friends … Oh my God, I sound like Miss September." —Rashida Jones talks about making her own fun in Playboy. [ONTD]

"Part of being the boss is allowing others to think they're the boss, which is what I do." —Will Arnett on who "wears the pants" in his relationship with Amy Poehler. [ONTD]

"I was blown away by how easily I adapted to the high heels." —Matt Lauer on dressing up like J.Lo for Halloween in 2000. [ONTD]