The actor Russell Crowe called a “Frank Sinatra wannabe”
To anyone who is familiar with Hollywood history, it’s no secret that feuds have always been a dime a dozen. From ugly spats between co-stars to financial showdowns involving major studio executives, the industry has seen the rise and fall of many infamous public battles. George Clooney, the star of acclaimed works such as O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Gravity, also found himself in the middle of such a disagreement.
It all started when Russell Crowe released an explosive comment about Clooney in 2005, lumping him alongside other Hollywood icons like Harrison Ford and Robert De Niro. While any actor would love to be put in the same category as those two, Crowe criticised all three for being “sellouts”. According to the Gladiator star, he was different from the rest because he did not appear in advertisements and stood by his artistic values.
At the time, Clooney was seriously angered by Crowe’s claims, and he made it clear that he wouldn’t collaborate with the actor in the future. Although Crowe later backtracked and said that he was misquoted, Clooney never really forgot the origin of their feud, which spanned years. In fact, Crowe even tried to apologise by sending him his music and poetry, but none of it really impressed Clooney, who revealed all of it to the press.
During an interview with Esquire, Clooney opened up about the incident: “He picked a fight with me. He started it for no reason at all. He put out this thing saying, ‘George Clooney, Harrison Ford, and Robert De Niro are sellouts.’ I put out a statement saying, ‘He’s probably right, and I’m glad he told us, ’cause Bob and Harrison and I were also thinking about starting a band, which would also fall under the heading of bad use of celebrity.’”
According to Clooney, that really angered Crowe, who publicly denounced their project and made derogatory insults. The actor explained: “That’s when he really went off on me. ‘Who the f**k does this guy think he is? He’s a Frank Sinatra wannabe.’ He really went after me, and so I sent him a note going, ‘Dude, the only people who succeed when two famous people are fighting is People magazine. What the f**k is wrong with you?'”
Despite the fact that Crowe was proud of his convictions at the peak of his career, the latter half of his journey as an actor has been questionable. Signing onto bizarre projects that have little artistic value, Crowe has failed to maintain the momentum of those early years. The latest example of this is The Pope’s Exorcist, a hilariously bad horror flick where he stars as a rotund Italian priest who performs exorcisms for the Pope.
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