No, Ms. Weiner DID not say that. She said that she had gotten to know Mr. Gibson over a course of almost eight years and actually become his friend that is what she is basing her opinion on. Read the article again, and perhaps you will understand it.
She said, “Whether it’s Gibson, Tom Cruise or Alec Baldwin, the descent from media darling to pariah can happen quickly after they do something dumb. I was part of that pack of journalists paid to pounce, so I know. I consider myself intelligent, someone who makes up her own mind, but just like readers do, I have accepted some reports at face value. The press said that based on Gibson’s statements, he was a homophobe, a misogynist, a bully, an ant-Semite, so he must be.” Sounds like she went along with the pack.