“The man is a ghoul and an exploiter”: Jack Nicholson’s issues with criticism of John Belushi
Jack Nicholson and John Belushi weren’t exactly the best of friends. The pair first butted heads when they were both working on the 1978 comedy western Goin’ South, which Nicholson also directed. Belushi’s outlandish demeanour clashed with Nicholson’s calm professionalism to the point where his role in the film was significantly reduced, which only made things more awkward. In a past interview, Belushi even said, “I hate him”, when talking about the Oscar winner.
Thankfully, the two icons were able to make peace prior to Belushi’s tragic death in 1982. Nicholson was even interviewed for a book called Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi, which came out in 1984. This decision would eventually come back to haunt the star of The Shining, who came out with some harsh words for the book’s author, Bob Woodward.
“The man is a ghoul and an exploiter of emotionally disturbed widows,” Nicholson said of the former Washington Post reporter. He called his work “the lowest” before criticising Woodward’s decision to demonise Belushi in print. “I told him, ‘Look, Bob, I don’t know what you think, but if you’re out here to do a coke/Hollywood sensation book, you don’t understand what the karma will be on you’.”
Belushi, who made his name in films like Animal House and The Blues Brothers and as an original cast member on Saturday Night Live, was a known hedonist. His death at the age of 33 came as the result of a drug overdose. Woodward did not cast the troubled star in a good light, calling him lazy and undisciplined, among other things, which caused many notable figures to disavow Wired, including Belushi’s Blues Brothers co-star Dan Ackroyd.
Nicholson claims he only contributed to the book because Belushi’s wife, Judy, asked him to. He was puzzled at how many conflicting versions of events Woodward presented and concluded by saying, “This guy is actually finished. I believe that.” Woodward had built a stellar reputation for himself, particularly for his work on the Watergate scandal, which significantly contributed to President Richard Nixon’s resignation.
Alongside Wired, Woodward has also authored over a dozen other titles, most of which are about US politics. His most recent effort, The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward’s Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump, came out in 2022 and ended up provoking the former president to file a lawsuit against him and his publishers. As for Wired, that was turned into a feature film in 1989 with The Shield and Fantastic Four’s Michael Chiklis in the Belushi role. Much like the book, it too was criticised and bad reviews set Chiklis’ career back several months. The actor has spoken since about how devastated he was to find out how much Belushi’s inner circle disapproved of the project.
The troubled production of Goin’ South and Nicholson and Belushi’s feud continues to inspire creatives to this day. In 2023, two filmmakers called the Lewis brothers released The Cowboy and The Samurai, a short film detailing the rivalry between these Hollywood hellraisers. The piece serves as a proof-of-concept for a planned feature-length film on the subject, which the brothers intend to self-release, although there are no concrete details on that for the time being.
