One of Hollywood’s most enduring celebrity feuds has finally been given its fullest public explanation, and the origin story is as strange as the rivalry itself.
In his newly released memoir The Steps, published on September 29, 2026, Sylvester Stallone reveals that his more than 50-year animosity with Richard Gere began on the set of the 1974 comedy film The Lords of Flatbush
Sylvester Stallone and Richard Gere were both auditioning and performing alongside a third young actor at the time, Robert De Niro.
According to Sylvester Stallone’s account, his dynamic with De Niro was sharp and energetic as the two would try to outtalk each other during improvisations in a way that felt productive and competitive in the right spirit, but with Richard Gere, however, things went wrong almost from the start.
During an improv scene, Richard Gere grabbed Sylvester Stallone’s T-shirt and dug his fingernails into his skin, Stallone told him to stop, but Richard Gere did it again on the second take.
Sylvester Stallone then asked director Stephen Verona what he should do if that happened in a real situation, Verona’s responded, “I’d knock his teeth out.”
When Sylvester Stallone asked him to please not let it go that far, Verona agreed, but it went that far anyway, or let’s say very close to it.
The breaking point came during a lunch break, as the cast was eating inside a parked car on set, and Sylvester Stallone had already warned Richard Gere to be careful about making a mess, but he didn’t listen hence a stream of chicken grease from Gere’s food spilled directly onto Stallone’s leg.
Stallone elbowed him across the chest, then got out of the car, reached back in, and pulled Richard Gere out by the collar.
“Hey, man, I don’t want to get physical,” Richard Gere reportedly said.
“Too late,” Sylvester Stallone replied.
Verona rushed over and physically placed himself between the two men, and once the dust settled, a decision had to be made that one of them had to go, making Verona keep Sylvester Stallone and fired Richard Gere from the production.
