Mel Gibson earned the title of 1997 Man of the Year last night.

Only after eating spoonfuls of dog food and reciting Hamlet with a Scottish accent did the Academy Award-winning actor receive the Hasty Pudding Theatricals' annual prize.

In the night's final antic, Gibson was dressed in a kilt and red wig and then asked to wear a red and blue bra.

"I'm very particular about what I put next to me," Gibson said before unbuttoning his own shirt to reveal a leopard-pattern bra that the "Brave-heart" star, director and producer already had donned.

"Is anyone prepared to take anything else I say seriously?" Gibson asked in a preface to his acceptance speech. "I hope to come back in a different state."

"I'll put this in a treasured place--next to my toilet," Gibson said as he proudly displayed the Pudding Pot.

Following the evening's roast, Gibson attended the Pudding's show, "Me and My Galaxy," which he said was "quite funny, entertaining [and] great."

"It's a groaner--two thumbs up," Gibson added.

During a news conference last night, Gibson said he was unprepared for the night's capers.

"It was all a kind of mystery," Gibson said. "You're supposed to come a little blind."

"Maybe I'll fill [the Pudding Pot] with dog food or my grandfather's ashes," Gibson said. "The bra I'll put in my office."

Gibson said he wasn't quite sure why he was selected Man of the Year.

"Some sort of artistic achievement, I suppose," Gibson said. "Perhaps my sense of humor."

Gibson also referred to his campus visit last November and described Harvard as terrific.

"The place has so many facets," Gibson said. "I think I got more out of it than the school did."

But Gibson feigned ignorance when asked about the controversial and explitive-laden remarks he made during a speech in Sanders Theatre.

"I don't remember any controversial remarks, and I don't think I was lewd or vulgar," Gibson said.

Gibson explained that when he referred to his life as a "shit sandwich" during the address, he simply meant that "the more bread you have, the less shit you have to eat."

"It's a joke," Gibson quipped.

Gibson continued his praise of the University.

"I think [Harvard is] a great institution. It's been around for a long time, which is a testament to it," Gibson said. "But I may have caused some people some heartbreak when I was last here, from what you tell me."

"I used the four-letter word that starts with an 'S' and ends with a 'T' and has a 'Hi' in it," he said. "I'm sorry. We all use it.

Gibson's most recent predecessors as Man of the Year were Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford