Actor Sylvester Stallone has been involved with such hit franchises as Rocky and Rambo. Now, however, the 77-year-old actor is facing accusations of having mocked actors on the set of his new series Tulsa King.
This report was shared by THR, where they revealed “an Atlanta-based casting agency has quit the Paramount+ dramedy amid claims posted online that background actors were verbally abused on the set by star Sylvester Stallone.”
“The show is produced by 101 Studios,” the outlet continues, “which is actively looking into the claims.” As of this writing, “the claims have not been verified, and the show’s director, Craig Zisk, is denying it ever happened.”
It appears that this began when “Catrett Locke Casting confirmed on its Facebook page Monday that it was parting ways with Tulsa King, which recently started production on season two.”
The following was shared by an admin of another casting group on Facebook named Charleston SC Background Actors/Crew:
“Several groups are talking about what happened on the set of Tulsa King filming in Atlanta. At first I had hoped it was just a bad rumor started by 1 person who may have felt some type of way; but there have been countless people who were on set and have stated what they saw, how they were treated, etc. Sadly Sly Stallone and crew made things miserable for the background artists and many have said the set was completely unprofessional and a total mess. Although I have not personally worked with Rose Locke & CL Casting…I have great respect for them for pulling out of the project and looking out for their background artists.”
An additional screenshot from another Facebook group moderator included the following accusations with more specific alleged quotes from the Samaritan actor:
“While working on TK this week Sylvester Stallone was observed calling the director over and saying ‘what the F* is up with these F**** ugly background [actors].’ He and the director proceeded to call certain people terrible names and laughed at them. ‘Tub of lard,’ ‘fat guy with cane’ and was making fun of their weight and handicaps. Sly said, ‘Bring in pretty young girls to be around me.’ Rose Locke has resigned and will finish out this final week to give them the opportunity to find someone else. BGs need to stand together and NOT submit to TK moving forward to show this production we don’t support this kind of disrespect in GA.”
Another background actor shared the following:
“I was there, right behind Mr. Stallone. He shouted to the director to come over here. Lot’s of F bombs dropped. Stallone was very upset with the look of the background actors. Said they were hideous and old and fat. Next thing, people are being told to go back to holding and younger people were brought in.”
In addition to other such complaints, it’s worth noting that Catrett Locke Casting has yet to confirm any of these accusations. So far, the company has merely announced their decision to part ways with Tulsa King. As such, we’ll have to see how this situation develops now that the accusations are in the open and investigations are no doubt going to happen. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates as we have them.