Sylvester Stallone is accused of creating a “toxic” work environment on the set of his Paramount+ show, Tulsa King — amid claims the star made cruel comments about background actors on the show.
In Tulsa King, the Rocky actor, 77, stars as mafia capo Dwight “The General” Mandfredi, who is fresh out of prison after serving a 25-year term. He is exiled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he builds a new criminal empire with a group of unlikely characters.
The show’s second season is currently filming in Atlanta, with the claims against Stallone emerging in a now-deleted April 8 X-post by TV writer Julie Benson, which read: ‘I received this disturbing news from my friend of Atlanta, who has background on Tulsa King this week.
“Casting agent quit because she was so disgusted. My boyfriend is worried about his job now.@TheSlyStallone, what do you have to say for yourself, sir? I’m more than disappointed, I’m furious.’
Rose Locke, casting director of Tulsa King, has left the series.
Sylvester Stallone is accused of creating a ‘toxic’ work environment on the set of his Paramount+ show, Tulsa King – amid claims the star made cruel comments about background actors on the show
The post included screenshots of a Facebook post claiming Stallone told the show’s director Craig Zisk: ‘What the F*** is happening with this F********* ugly background’ – referencing to the extras in a scene.
The post continued: “He and the director called certain people horrible names and made fun of them. ‘Chicken lard’, ‘fat man with a stick’ and made jokes about their weight and disabilities.
The post further claimed that ‘Sly said, “Get beautiful young girls near me.”
Another background actor claimed on CL Casting’s Facebook page: ‘I was there, right behind Mr. Stallone. He shouted at the director to come here. A lot of F-bombs have been dropped.
‘Stallone was very upset about the appearance of the background actors. They said they were horrible, old and fat. Then people were told to go back to prison and younger people were brought in.”
The Facebook post stated that Locke has resigned from the show and that background actors must “all stand together” to “show this production that we do not support this type of disrespect in GA.”
Another screenshot was of an email, purportedly from Locke, in which she wrote that she had gone to the set after being “informed about certain things.”
“I ended up quitting because it was a clearly toxic environment in which I didn’t feel comfortable with myself or background artists.”
In Tulsa King, the Rocky actor, 77, stars as mafia capo Dwight “The General” Mandfredi, who is fresh out of prison after serving a 25-year term. He is exiled to Tulsa, Oklahoma
The post included screenshots of a Facebook post claiming Stallone told the show’s director Craig Zisk: ‘What the F*** is happening with this F********* ugly background’ – referencing to the extras in a scene ‘
She apologized to the email recipients and included her number to gather information about anything people saw or heard. I’ll send the information to HR.’
The Facebook page for Rose Locke Casting – which directs visitors to the page for CL Casting – posted a statement on April 7 announcing that it had parted ways with Tulsa King.
The message read: ‘Hello team, we wanted to send you an update on the happenings here in our casting world. We have chosen to say goodbye to Tulsa King. We’ll finish the job next week and the 12th is our last day. We send good wishes to whoever takes over the show. We thank all of you, wonderful background artists, for your continued support.
‘I love you mean it
‘Rose, Bailey, Chicago, Patrick and Robb.
A background actor wrote on Facebook in response: ‘I was there! I was 10 feet away from Stallone and I didn’t hear him say those words BUT he didn’t seem to want to be there.
‘He never spoke to extras and he would call the director and whisper things and there was a heavyset man sitting on a stick as an extra. I love Stallone, but I was very disappointed in him. He was only there for an hour and a half, so I don’t want to hear him say anymore about how hard filming a TV show is.
A background actor wrote on Facebook in response: ‘I was there! I was 10 feet away from Stallone and I didn’t hear him say those words, BUT he didn’t seem to want to be there.”
Craig Zisk, the director and executive producer of the Paramount+ series, denied the claims to TMZ and said Locke, who was not on set the day of the alleged encounter, improperly cast the extras.
Other extras claimed they had not witnessed any unsavory behavior, writing, “I observed nothing out of the ordinary, nothing different from any other background acting experience I have been involved in.”
Another wrote: ‘I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. One of the directors was a bit spicy with his ‘let’s be quiet OR keep it down so we can work’, but I heard that on every set. Not a big problem.”
A third wrote: ‘There have been some comments made that I personally heard… things could have been handled more tactfully but it’s their show.’
Zisk, the director and executive producer of the Paramount+ series, denied the claims TMZ and said that Locke, who was not on set the day of the alleged encounter, improperly cast the extras.
Zisk said the extras would take place in a “hip, young bar,” and that the plan was to get actors between the ages of 25 and 35. He says the actors who were cast were significantly older.
Zisk said he ultimately used the actors for the scene, adding, “They were polite and did their job.”
He claims he told Locke to submit headshots of the extras to make sure they matched the show’s premise, and says she responded, “That’s not how I work.”
Zisk denied that Stallone said anything about “pretty girls” and added that his wife Jennifer Flavin was on set at the time (pictured together in 2022)
He replied, “That’s the way I work and everyone I know works that way when casting extras. He claims she replied “OK” but stopped an hour later.
Zisk denied that Stallone said anything about “pretty girls” and added that his wife Jennifer Flavin was on set at the time.
DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for Sylvester Stallone and Paramount+ for comment.