Sylvester Stallone’s Paramount+ series Tulsa King has been filming its second season, but now is facing some controversy. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stallone has been accused of some troubling on-set behavior, including allegedly making disparaging remarks about some of the extras.
The outlet reports that entertainment journalist Julie Benson shared screenshots from some private casting groups on social media, in which people were sharing about their experiences working on Tulsa King. “I have been informed of certain things that happened on Thursday … I came the 2nd day (Friday) to see what was happening,” casting agent Rose Locke allegedly wrote in a post. “At the end of the day I resigned because it was a clear toxic environment that I was not comfortable putting myself or background artists in.”
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In a separate post, someone shared alleged eyewitness reports of Stallone’s verbal abuse. “While working on TK this week,” the post began, “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.” The post added, “Sly said, ‘Bring in pretty young girls to be around me.’”
A third post offered an alleged first-hand account of the situation. “I was there, right behind Mr. Stallone,” the person stated. “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.”
At this time, Stallone does not appear to have commented on the situation, but THR reports that Tulsa King director Craig Zisk has denied the allegations. Tulsa King debuted on Paramount+ in 2022. It stars Stallone as Dwight “The General” Manfredi, a New York mobster who is released from prison after 25 years and is immediately sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma by his mafia boss. The first season is currently streaming exclusively on Paramount+.
