Sylvester Stallone Reveals Brutal On-Set Fight With Richard Gere That Turned 'Physical': 'His Fingernails Dug Into My Skin'
Sylvester Stallone claims he got physical with Richard Gere after chicken grease was spilled on him.
Oct. 8 2026, Published 5:10 p.m. ET
Sylvester Stallone got into a brutal fight with Richard Gere in the 1970s, RadarOnline.com can report.
The actor recounts the altercation in his new memoir, The Steps. According to Stallone, tension between the two movie stars started at auditions for The Lords of Flatbush.
Sylvester Stallone Details Richard Gere Fight
In his memoir, Stallone recalls getting into an altercation with Gere in the 1970s.
"I remember everything went pretty well initially with me and (Robert) De Niro," he explains in the book. "We were trying to outtalk each other. I enjoyed improvisation and the process of ad-libbing."
"Then the improvs with Richard Gere went bad, when Gere grabbed my T-shirt and his fingernails dug into my skin," Stallone continues. "I told him to back off, but he did it again on the second take. He couldn't have known, but Gere had begun to stir the emotional cauldron inside me.”
Richard Gere Spilled Grease on Sylvester Stallone
According to Stallone, he got physical with Gere after chicken grease was spilled on him.
"I turned to [director] Stephen Verona and asked him, 'Is it okay if I ad-lib here and react the way I would actually react if someone did that to me in real life?’" he recalls in the book. "'What would you do?' 'Do? I'd knock his teeth out.' 'Please don't.'"
The situation only got messier, as during their lunch break, Gere spilled chicken grease on the Rocky star.
Stallone was quick to react, making it clear he was unwilling to tolerate any disrespect.
'One of Us Had to Go'
According to Stallone, he and the 'Pretty Woman' actor did not work well together.
“A stream of chicken grease spilled off the foil paper onto my leg," Stallone writes. "I elbowed him across the chest, got out of the car, came around to his side, and pulled him out of the back seat. 'Hey, man, I don't want to get physical,' Gere said in a thin voice."
"'Too late ...' Stephen Verona put himself in front of Gere," he writes. "It was clear to everyone that this wasn't working. One of us had to go.”
'The Steps'
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In his new memoir, Stallone opens up about facing poverty, battling an eating disorder, and more.
The on-set scuffle isn't all Stallone opens up about in his new book.
He also discusses his battle with an eating disorder, his troubled childhood, and more.
The Cliffhanger star even got candid about living in poverty before making a name for himself in Hollywood. He revealed that at one point, he showered in his clothes to save money on laundry, and survived on a diet of just cottage cheese and raw eggs.
