Mel Gibson Sources: Oksana Grigorieva Demanded $10 Million to Keep Tapes Secret

The five shocking, vile recordings of Mel Gibson tearing apart his ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva have painted a disturbing picture of the actor this week.

Mel's crazed rants were filled with racial slurs, misogynistic insults, death threats, demands for oral sex and laments of financial problems. Just ugly stuff.

But where the Mel Gibson tapes - which his lawyers already claim were edited and altered - the subject of a criminal extortion attempt by Grigorieva?

Sources connected with the star say there is "hard proof" Oksana tried to blackmail Gibson, demanding more than $10 million to keep the tapes secret.

We're guessing he didn't play ball.

RANSOM: Mel Gibson clearly has serious problems, but was Oksana Grigorieva trying to exploit and extort him by recording their explosive phone calls in secret?

Sources close to Mel now say Oksana even went so far as to demand a specific amount of money, one they declined to reveal but say exceeded $10 million.

Moreover, the sources boldly claim that there are emails and other "physical evidence" to prove it. One source even said, "There's a long trail of evidence."

The judge handling Mel and Oksana's custody fight declined to strip him of visitation rights Thursday, even as police investigate him for domestic violence.

Oksana alleges that Mel hit her in the face twice, citing one of the tapes as evidence. Mel's wife of 28 years, Robyn Gibson, says he was never violent.

Mel's lawyers will be meeting with L.A. County Sheriff's deputies, making a presentation of evidence which includes their alleged evidence of extortion.

His legal team will likely push for a criminal investigation of Oksana. (thehollywoodgossip)