Sylvester Stallone recalls on-set clash that fueled decades-long feud with Richard Gere

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Sylvester Stallone is opening up about the physical altercation with Richard Gere that sparked their decades-long feud.

In his new memoir, 'The Steps,' Stallone recalled the tension between the two actors while filming the 1974 movie 'The Lords of Flatbush.'

Stallone said the tension with Gere began during the audition process, which was also when he met Robert De Niro. While Stallone said things initially went well with De Niro, his improvisations with Gere quickly turned sour.

Sylvester Stallone recalls Richard Gere feud

Stallone recalled that Gere grabbed his T-shirt during an improvisation. “I remember everything went pretty well initially with me and De Niro,” Stallone wrote.

“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. 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.”

Stallone then asked director Stephen Verona if he could react to Gere's actions as he would in real life. When Verona asked what he would do, Stallone replied, “Do? I’d knock his teeth out.” Verona responded, “Please don’t.”

The two actors did not fight at that point, but Stallone said the tension continued to mount.

Richard Gere fired after on-set clash

The conflict eventually escalated during a lunch break. “A stream of chicken grease spilled off the foil paper onto my leg,” Stallone recalled.

“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. It was clear to everyone that this wasn’t working. One of us had to go.”

Stallone said Verona chose to keep him and fire Gere from the movie. Shortly after, De Niro left to pursue another project. Perry King and Henry Winkler later joined the 1974 film.

Sylvester Stallone and Richard Gere’s feud lasted decades

The feud between Stallone and Gere appeared to last for decades. Elton John wrote about another confrontation between the actors in his 2019 memoir, recalling a dinner party in the 1990s that also involved Princess Diana.

John wrote that Stallone and Gere were later found “squaring up to each other, apparently about to settle their differences over Diana by having a fist-fight.”

He also described a “strange atmosphere in the room” and said Diana and Gere's friendship did not appear to sit well with Stallone.

Stallone's account of the original clash with Gere appears in 'The Steps,' which was released on September 29 and is now available wherever books are sold.