Have you ever sat through a movie’s credits and wondered how “Long Hair Yuppie-Scum” or “Bulge Wrangler” could have ever signed off on their names being used like that? As it turns out, it isn’t nearly as fun when the background actors aren’t in on the joke. This is the reported case on the set of the second season of Taylor Sheridan-verse drama Tulsa King, where Sylvester Stallone—the star of the Paramount+ series—is accused of turning the set into a “clear toxic environment” for extras.
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According to Deadline, Atlanta-based firm CL Casting (led by agent Rose Locke) left the series due to Stallone and an unnamed director’s disrespectful treatment of the actors they had hired. Multiple affected artists shared their experiences on a private Facebook group for Atlanta-based background actors, including one who accused Stallone of referring to some of the extras as “ugly,” “tub of lard,” and “fat guy with cane.” (The person this third comment was about responded on Facebook that it “hurt his soul” to hear himself described that way.) The actors also alleged that Stallone asked production to bring in “pretty young girls to be around me” instead.
CL Casting announced their departure from Tulsa King on their own Facebook page Sunday, with a (snide?) comment of “we send well wishes to whomever takes over the show.” In a separate message shared on Twitter/X by writer Julie Benson (who has no relation to the Sheridan show), Locke reached out to actors who had been on set announcing her resignation and apologizing “for anything you experienced.”
In a follow-up statement to TMZ, however, Tulsa King director and executive producer Craig Zisk denied many of Locke’s claims. According to him, Stallone never said any of the alleged offensive monikers and the casting agent wasn’t even on set that day. The actual issue, he said, was that her firm was supposed to hire 25 to 35-year-old actors to populate a “hip, young bar,” but the extras she brought in were considerably older. He also denied the claim that Stallone said anything about bringing in “pretty girls.” To hear Zisk tell it, he asked Locke to provide headshots of all potential actors following the incident with the bar and she refused and quit an hour later.
Rose Locke did not immediately respond to The A.V. Club’s requests for comment on this story.