The movie icon allegedly disparaged Atlanta background actors on the Paramount+ TV series, Deadline reported Tuesday, referring to various people as “ugly,” “tub of lard” and “fat guy with cane.” Stallone allegedly wanted “pretty young girls to be around” him, the outlet said.
Subsequently, a background casting agency working on the crime comedy decided it was done — and quit.
“We have chosen to part ways with Tulsa King,” CL Casting wrote Sunday on Facebook. “We will be finishing up next week and the 12th will be our last day. We send well wishes to whomever takes over the show. We thank all of you great background artists for your continued support. Love You Mean It.”
The Times was unable to contact CL Casting on Tuesday.
Paramount, the studio behind the Taylor Sheridan-created series, prides itself on a respectful workplace and is investigating the situation, sources close to the show said Wednesday.
But “Tulsa King” director Craig Zisk called BS on the allegations Tuesday, telling TMZ that no such insults happened. Zisk, who is also executive producer of the series, told the website that the background casting director wasn’t on set that day to hear what happened for herself and hadn’t properly cast the extras — whom he said were supposed to be 25 to 35 and patrons of a hip, young bar. He said that the extras were older than expected, though they were ultimately used in the scene that day.
Zisk also told TMZ that Stallone said nothing about wanting pretty young girls around him and had wife Jennifer Flavin on set with him that day. The Times was unable to track down a Stallone representative for comment Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in comments on the CL Casting Facebook page, folks were praising the Atlanta company for standing up for its people and having “integrity.” One commenter even stated that he was the subject of one of the alleged insults.
The Times described “Tulsa King” in a 2022 review as “‘The Sopranos’ meets ‘Yellowstone,’” with the latter being Sheridan’s most famous creation.
“Goodness knows, the viewing public has a fondness for mob types behaving badly, and Stallone is convincingly tough, not just for a septuagenarian,” TV critic Robert Lloyd wrote. “Still, there are the customary clues designed to show that Dwight, like the boy in the Shangri-Las song, is good-bad but not evil. Whom he chooses to punch, for example — a racist car dealer, a drunk bothering a woman — and the fact that he seems a lot smarter and nicer and more sensitive than his old criminal associates.”
In this case, the good, the bad and the ugly of it all have yet to be sorted out.