Sylvester Stallone Returns to 'Tulsa King' Set Amid Casting Controversy

Sylvester Stallone took to social media this week to promote the forthcoming second season of his Paramount + series, Tulsa King, without addressing the accusations that he and one of the show’s unnamed directors were allegedly responsible for a “toxic” on-set environment for its hired background actors, who were reportedly mocked by both for their appearances. 

On Monday, Stallone did not address the accusations in an Instagram post, where the 1970s cinema icon appears dressed in a lavender suit as his character, Dwight “The General” Manfredi. Instead, he notified fans that he is on set shooting the second season, which comes from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan. 

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“Ringing the bell on location for Tulsa King part two,” Stallone captioned the on-set image.

The “toxic” set accusations led a casting director and two agencies to leave the production. Catrett Locke Casting announced Monday that it would “part ways” with the show as it became aware of the accusations against Stallone and a director on the show. On April 9, Rose Locke Casting cut ties with the production when it emerged that Stallone and a director reportedly referred to a background colleague as “ugly,” “tub of lard” and “fat guy with cane.” 

Rose Locke of Catrett Locke Casting said she decided to pull her casting agency out of the show after a set visit displayed a “clear toxic environment that I was not comfortable putting myself or background artists in,” as was seen in two screenshots circulated by a writer not affiliated with Tulsa King on X.com on April 9. The actors union SAG-AFTRA has also spoken on the controversy, with a representative saying, “There is no room on any set for disparaging comments to background actors or any performers.”

The previously reportedallegations of criticism of the background actors have centered on their advanced age and appearances, as seen in the discussions in a Facebook Group formed as the matter became a pressing issue for some of the extras.

The show is produced by 101 Studios, which is actively looking into the claims.

Craig Zisk, the director working on the episode being filmed at the time and who also functions as the show’s overall director and executive producer, has since denied the claims. He told TMZ that the extras were improperly cast by Lock and that rather than middle-aged, he had asked for “hip, young” background actors in the 25- to 35-year-old range for a bar scene. Zisk told the outlet that he kept the allegedly miscast extras and they were “polite and did their jobs”; he added that Stallone never commented on requiring “pretty girls” in his presence. 

Zisk’s denial was corroborated by some actors in the Facebook group, who indicated that nothing strange or ugly took place on set. “I observed nothing out of the ordinary, nothing different than any of the other Background Acting experiences I have been involved in,” wrote one. “I noticed nothing out of the ordinary onset,” added another.

Tulsa King follows Stallone’s fresh-out-of-prison mobster working to build a new crime empire in Oklahoma. Its debut season was one of Paramount+’s most watched series.

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