Sylvester Stallone Says A Spilled Chicken Lunch Nearly Started A Fistfight With Richard Gere — And The Feud Has Lasted 50 Years

Stop scrolling, because Sylvester Stallone just revealed that one of Hollywood's quietest long-running feuds started with grease. Chicken grease. Yes, really.

In his new memoir The Steps, the Rocky star recounts a heated 1970s audition with a young Richard Gere, and honestly? We are NOT okay.

The Audition From Hell

According to E! News, which cites Entertainment Weekly's look at the book, the scene was the audition process for 1974's The Lords of Flatbush. It's also where Stallone met Robert De Niro.

Things started out well. Stallone says he and De Niro were "trying to outtalk each other" and he loved the improv.

Then came the Gere improvs. Stallone says Gere grabbed his T-shirt, with fingernails digging into his skin. He says he told him to back off, and Gere did it AGAIN on the second take.

"I'd Knock His Teeth Out"

Stallone writes that he asked co-director Stephen Verona if he could react the way he actually would in real life. When Verona asked what that meant, Stallone's answer was short:

"I'd knock his teeth out."

To be fair, Stallone also concedes that Gere couldn't have known how his behavior was affecting him. Verona didn't let the scene escalate.

And Then Came The Chicken

The real breaking point? A lunch mishap. Stallone says Gere accidentally spilled his food on him, and "a stream of chicken grease spilled off the foil paper onto my leg."

His version of what happened next: he elbowed Gere in the chest, got out of the car, came around and pulled him out of the back seat. Gere reportedly said, "Hey, man, I don't want to get physical." Stallone's reply: "Too late."

Verona stepped between them, and Stallone says it was obvious "one of us had to go."

Who Got The Part?

Stallone nabbed the role of Stanley Rosiello, in a cast that also included Henry Winkler. According to E!, none of his audition partners ended up on camera with him. Perry King played Chico instead of Gere after Verona pulled him from the project, per Stallone, and Paul Mace played Wimpy after De Niro stepped away.

As for Gere? E! notes the Pretty Woman star has never publicly addressed the feud, and his rep hadn't responded to a request for comment at the time of publishing. So this is, for now, strictly Stallone's side of the story.

Meanwhile, Stallone Is Having A Week

The memoir isn't his only headline. Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter report that Paramount+ has renewed Tulsa King for a fifth season, and it's leaving its usual stomping grounds for New York City.

According to THR, that makes it the first Taylor Sheridan show to film a season in NYC. Stallone's daughter Scarlet Rose Stallone gets promoted to series regular, and Erik Palladino, Glenn Fleshler, Anthony Skordi and Nickola Shreli join the cast. Season 4 premieres October 16.

The Tea ☕

• Stallone's memoir The Steps says a physical clash with Richard Gere during a Lords of Flatbush audition sparked a 50-year feud.
• The flashpoint, per Stallone: spilled chicken grease and a very tense car scene.
• Gere has never publicly addressed it, and his rep hasn't commented yet.
• Tulsa King is renewed for Season 5 and moving to NYC.

So here's what we need to know: is a spilled lunch a legitimate reason to hold a grudge for HALF A CENTURY, or is it time for these two to share a peace-offering chicken sandwich? Team Stallone or Team Gere? Sound off below.

Sources: E! News | Deadline | The Hollywood Reporter