Sylvester Stallone has revealed what finally ended his decades-long feud with Arnold Schwarzenegger — and it was not a film, a handshake or a shared stage. It was politics. Speaking on the November 5 episode of The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, the 80-year-old Rocky star said their rivalry lasted around 20 years and was so intense the pair could not even appear on stage together.
“We couldn’t get on the same stage together to make a presentation or a speech,” Stallone said, describing the competition as “very contentious”. He added: “It wasn’t put to bed until like 20 years.”
A rivalry that began in 1977
The feud dates back to the 1977 Golden Globes, when Stallone won Best Actor for Rocky but perceived Schwarzenegger to be gloating. From there it became, in Stallone’s words, a contest in which each man tried to outdo the other — bigger bodies, bigger body counts, bigger guns, better locations.
“It just kept elevating,” Stallone said. “The madder I made him, the madder he made me, the more he fought to make the next action film bigger-than-life, louder, more body count, this and that.” He has previously described the rivalry as being like “life and death”, saying: “We were at each other’s throats, big time. It wasn’t a joke.”
Politics ended the competition
The turning point came in 2003, when Schwarzenegger stepped away from Hollywood and ran for governor of California, winning the election and serving two terms until 2011. Stallone said the move changed everything.
“I said, ‘Enough of this, we’re not in competition’,” Stallone recalled. “He was not doing movies anymore. All right. Thank you very much for waking me up, lighting a fire under me. And he felt the same way.”
The pair’s rivalry had already complicated their business lives: both were investors in the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain and had to fly around the world together to promote it. When Schwarzenegger returned to acting, the two finally shared the screen in The Expendables in 2010, going on to work together on Expendables 2, Escape Plan and Expendables 3. Stallone says they are now “fantastic friends”, with Schwarzenegger calling them “inseparable” — though a little friendly competition remains.
Sources: Parade (Nov 5, Rest Is Entertainment podcast); LADbible (Nov 6, “very contentious”, 20 years); Unilad (Nov 6, 1977 Golden Globes origin); Primetimer (Nov 5, Entertainment Weekly cited).
