Mel Gibson's Ex Admits She Was 'In The Grip Of Blinding Fear' During Actor's Violent Rampage

Mel Gibson's former flame went to New York's playground of the rich and famous, The Hamptons, last weekend -- but the subject matter was anything but glitz and glamor.

Oksana Grigorieva spoke out against the Lethal Weapon star and the brutal and violent encounters she suffered at the hands of him in 2010.

"As a woman who has experienced the pain and stigma of living through abuse myself, I have come to learn a few important things," Grigorieva told guests in a speech at the Artists Against Abuse gala in Bridgehampton, a copy of which RadarOnline.com has obtained.

"Domestic abuse happens far more often than people think and that the only way to end it is to shine more light on it - to talk about it openly and courageously."

The singer-songwriter, 43, told attendees she was "in the grip of blinding fear" during the Hollywood megastar's notorious meltdown which was caught on a series of audiotapes.

As RadarOnline.com first reported during the midst of their bitter 2010 court case, Gibson punched Grigorieva twice, choked her and then brandished a gun at her and threatened to kill his own baby daughter.

The 57-year-old actor-director later entered a “no contest” plea to a misdemeanor battery charge and was placed on unsupervised probation for three years and required to complete 52 weeks of anger management counseling.

In a declaration as part of the case, Gibson insisted he never hit her Grigorieva, the mother of his youngest daughter Lucia, with a closed fist.

"At the time when it happened to me I was afraid to ask for help, in the grip of blinding fear," Grigorieva said at the event, which raised money for The Retreat, an organization that helps find residential shelters for abused women and children, a 24-hour domestic violence hotline and legal advocacy for victims.