Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted having mutual hatred for Sylvester Stallone while both actors were emerging stars in the 80s.
The famous duo’s feud fizzled by the 2000s, but the former governor of California admitted saying “nasty things” about Stallone early in his career.
“We hated each other. We were kind of attacking each other and doing nasty things and saying nasty things about each other and all these stupid things,” Schwarzenegger told Andy Cohen on Sirius XM’s “Radio Andy.”
Stallone and Schwarzenegger mended their relationship prior to starring in the 2013 movie “Escape Plan” after their big business venture.
“All of a sudden, I started working with Robert Earl and Keith Parish to create the Planet Hollywood franchise, those restaurants.
“The next thing I know is I get a phone call from my lawyer, who was also Sly’s lawyer. He said, ‘Arnold, is there any kind of room for Sly in Planet Hollywood?’” he told Cohen.
After thinking about the proposal, Schwarzenegger recalled admitting it was “actually a good idea, because it could bring us together. And I wanted that. At that point, I had grown out of my craziness.”
The Planet Hollywood restaurant chain was backed by the two stars and other investors. They launched their first restaurant in New York in 1991.
Schwarzenegger said he and the “Rocky” star “made it work” when it came to business.
“And Bruce Willis became part of Planet Hollywood, Whoopi Goldberg became part of Planet Hollywood, Chuck Norris. … It really was kind of an international cast.”
Stallone discussed his side of the feud in “TMZ Presents: Arnold & Sly: Rivals, Friends,” which aired in 2024.
He recalled thinking when Schwarzenegger emerged in Hollywood he finally had a bit of competition.
“Finally, something to motivate me. Because he is, dare I say it, competition, a threat, whatever word you wanna use. As soon as I saw him, it was like bang, two alphas hitting,” Stallone said.
Schwarzenegger said, “There’s no two ways about that: He was very helpful in my career because I had something that I could chase.”
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
During the special, Schwarzenegger also revealed he tricked Stallone into taking a part in the 1992 film, “Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.”
Anticipating the movie would flop – it did – Schwarzenegger and his agent concocted a plan.
“First of all, when we talk about the movie, I didn’t talk him into [it] because I never talked to him about it,” Schwarzenegger said.
“But it was very clear that his agent was telling my agent, ‘Look, Sly is interested in doing it, but I don’t know if it’s the right thing for him. Let me know what you guys are thinking.’ And then my agent said, ‘Well you know, Arnold really loves it. I think it’s fantastic.’
“So, then I called Roger Spottiswoode, who was the director, who just did the James Bond movie. So, he was kind of the hot director [at the time],” Schwarzenegger recalled.
“Oh my God, oh my God,” Stallone said as Schwarzenegger recounted his process.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
Stallone said on camera he hadn’t known the intricacies of Schwarzenegger’s plan.
“You talked to my director?” a stunned Stallone asked Schwarzenegger.
“Yeah,” Schwarzenegger said.
“Oh my God,” Stallone replied.
Despite their past grievances, the two are pals now, although Stallone admitted he is “stuck” with a stain on his resumé because of Schwarzenegger’s sneaky move.
