Sylvester Stallone Slams Rocky Producer Irwin Winkler

After Winkler’s son and fellow producer of the “Creed” franchise David Winkler published the memoir “The Arrangement: A Love Story,” Stallone shared his one-star review of the book on Instagram, captioning, “You know I love reading and I’ve read thousands of books but I have to say THIS one is by far the worst! If you ever run out of toilet paper PLEASE by this one you won’t be disappointed.” Stallone went on to call David Winkler “painfully untalented” and his father Irwin the “remarkably untalented and parasitical Producer of ‘Rocky’ and ‘Creed’” before praising Winkler’s “wonderful” producing partner Robert Chartoff who passed away in 2015. “If it wasn’t for Winkler there would’ve been at least another three ‘Rocky’’s, that would’ve been wonderful,” Stallone wrote. “Frankly that crew are the worst unhunman beings I’ve ever met in the movie industry. I will forever love the loyal fans and keep punching.!!! REMEMBER IT FEELS GOOD TO CLEAR YOUR HEART.”

“Rocky” won Best Picture in 1976 with Stallone also being nominated for playing aspiring boxer Rocky Balboa and penning the screenplay. Stallone was later nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 2015 spinoff “Creed.” Irwin Winkler and Chartoff are credited as the sole producers of the first five “Rocky” films, with the 2006 installment “Rocky Balboa” adding sons David Winkler and Charles Winkler. Stallone wrote, directed, and starred in the film. Meanwhile, Stallone is a producer of all the “Creed” films, including upcoming “Creed III,” alongside Irwin, David, and Charles Winkler. Stallone, however, will not appear in the third film, in theaters November 23 and directed by lead star Michael B. Jordan. Stallone penned a follow-up Instagram post claiming there is an ownership dispute over the half-century-long franchise. “After IRWIN controlling ‘ROCKY’ for over 47 years, and now ‘CREED,’ I really would like have at least a little WHAT’s LEFT of my RIGHTS back, before passing it on to ONLY YOUR CHILDREN,” Stallone captioned. “I believe That would be a FAIR gesture from this 93 year old gentleman? This is a painful subject that eats at my soul , because I wanted to leave something of ‘Rocky’ for my children, but it’s always great hearing from the loyal fans…Keep Punching.” Stallone previously told Variety in 2019 that he has “zero ownership” of “Rocky.” “Every word, every syllable, every grammatical error was all my fault,” Stallone said. “It was shocking that it never came to be, but I was told, ‘Hey, you got paid, so what are you complaining about?’ I was furious.” He added, “I mentioned it a few times because after ‘Rocky II’ came out and made a ton of money and then ‘Rocky III’ hit and made more than all of them, I said I’d like to have some ownership since I invented it. And that never happened.”

Stallone explained that he confronted the studio before “Rocky IV” in 1985 in part over licensing deals, saying, “Does it bother you guys that I’ve written every word, I’ve choreographed it, I’ve been loyal to you, I’ve promoted it, directed it and I don’t have 1 percent that I could leave for my children?” only to be told, “‘You got paid.’ And that was the end of the conversation.”