Sylvester Stallone Photographed Using Cane for First Time

Sylvester Stallone used a cane while walking the red carpet for Sunday’s 2025 Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C.

The Rocky actor, 79, leaned on the walking support while posing for photos with his wife, Jennifer Flavin Stallone, 57, outside the event during which Sylvester was honored for his “legendary toughness” in film and television.

Stallone has previously shared how he “never recovered” from injuries he obtained while doing his own stunts on the 2010 action film The Expendables.

“I did stupid stuff. I was directing Expendables and, like an idiot, I’m doing take 10, take whatever, and I remember one slam, and I could actually feel one bang,” Stallone shared on a 2024 episode of his reality show The Family Stallone.

“After that film, it was never physically the same,” he said, revealing that he had to undergo seven surgeries, including the insertion of a metal plate into his neck and a spinal fusion procedure, to repair the damage caused. “So I warn people, ‘Don’t do your own stunts,’” he added.

On the show, Stallone’s wife admitted it was a “scary time” for their family every time he had to go into surgery. “He doesn’t like people to know he’s had so many back surgeries,” Flavin said at the time. “It’s very scary for our family every time Sly has to go through surgery, because you never know . . . no one knows.”

“It’s really hard to see my father go through yet another painful operation,” the couple’s 23-year-old daughter, Scarlet Stallone, added. “My whole childhood, he was in pain. He did everything he could to push through the pain and be present, but I couldn’t imagine every waking moment you are just hurting.”