People on Twitter reacted with surprise, alarm and even disgust Monday, following reports that Sylvester Stallone had joined Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort after buying a $35 million compound near the former president’s Palm Beach, Florida, property.
The reports, which originated in Page Six, both make sense and they don’t. One one hand, Stallone is known to have been friendly with Trump in the past and attended his New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago in 2016, just after the former reality TV star won the presidency.
So, why wouldn’t the fabulously wealthy Stallone join Trump’s private club after becoming his neighbor?
On the other hand, America’s “Rocky Balboa” is known for tightly controlling his erudite, action-star persona. That means that the 74-year-old Stallone, after the legacy he’s built in Hollywood with the Rocky and Rambo franchises, must now deal with accusations on social media of being a “full-blown MAGA lunatic.”
Calls grew Monday to “cancel” Stallone because he is reportedly paying the $200,000 membership fee to associate himself socially with a president who regularly used racist rhetoric and who is accused of inciting the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by refusing to accept the results of the 2020 election.
Sad to see that Sly Stallone is joining Mar-a-Lago.
Must have taken too many shots to the head while filming the 86 different Rocky movies.
— Brian O’Sullivan (@osullivanauthor) April 12, 2021
Sylvester Stallone paid $200,000 to show his support for a loser, insurrectionist, twice-impeached President.
Knock yourself out, Rocky.
— ReallyAmerican.com ?? (@ReallyAmerican1) April 12, 2021
And Sylvester Stallone outs himself as a white supremacist by supporting one.
— curt (⧖) (@audiblevideo) April 12, 2021
When Trump first ran for president in 2016, Stallone seemed eager to keep some distance between himself and the controversial real estate mogul. It appeared that Stallone wanted to avoid the professional grief heaped on other conservative celebrities — Jon Voigt, James Woods and Scott Baio — who gave ringing endorsements to Trump.
In a 2016 interview with Variety, Stallone denied being Republican, though he voted for John McCain in 2008. He also side-stepped questions about whether he would actually vote for Trump.
Stallone would only speak of a personal “love” for Trump. He told Variety he appreciated Trump as a “bigger-than-life,” “Dickensian” figure — like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Babe Ruth. Stallone let out a laugh and said, “But I don’t know how that translates to running the world.”
Still, Trump is known for coming through for Stallone in 2018, when he took the actor’s advice and agreed to grant a posthumous pardon to heavyweight champion Jack Johnson.
After Trump lost the 2020 election, a number of once-loyal Mar-a-Lago residents quit Trump’s club, according to the author of the definitive book about the resort. Laurence Leamer, historian and author of “Mar-a-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump’s Presidential Palace,” told MSNBC that these members no longer wanted to be associated with Trump, in part because the resort had lost the cachet of being the vacation home of a sitting U.S. president.
“It’s a very dispirited place,” Leamer said.
But Page Six reported that Stallone was apparently happy to join Trump’s resort after buying his Palm Beach estate in December. A source who saw Stallone at the resort last month told Page Six: “Sly just became a member of Mar-a-Lago.”
The Page Six source said that Stallone was seen posing with some fellow guests for photos — all holding up their fists in a boxing pose.
Sylvester Stallone joins Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club and poses for photos with guests https://t.co/1W0ZsH8Eug
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) April 11, 2021
The report about Stallone joining Mar-a-Lago comes after Trump appeared to solidify Mar-a-Lago as his new Republican power base. He spoke at this past weekend’s meeting of Republican National Committee donors at a nearby hotel, where he repeated many of his debunked claims that the election was stolen from him, CNN reported.
People on Twitter questioned why Stallone doesn’t appear to care more about his carefully tended legacy. “This move alone will tarnish it,” wrote one person.
Others said he’s perhaps reached an age when he’s not so concerned about his public image.
“I would say it was career suicide,” another person wrote. “But he’s made his money. And probably doesn’t care what people think now. Very disappointed.”
In any case, Stallone is now facing the wrath of what conservatives decry as “cancel culture.”
For years I enjoyed Sly Stallone’s work, but now that he has gone full MAGA. Off the list! Will not watch anything he is in as I do not want him getting royalties off my time. EVER!. What the hell goes wrong with a person chosing to enter the world of Racists, Fascists and Nazis?
– Dennis Buchholz (@Denis_Buchholz) April 12, 2021
Stallone is cancelled https://t.co/MXcNEqCjIa
— ?The Usual S o z e #Resist ???❄️ ? (@Frost8Woods) April 12, 2021
Among conservatives coming to Stallone’s defense was former National Rifle Association spokesperson Dana Loesch:
So Stallone plays golf at Mar-a-Lago and wokescolds want to cancel him. Pretty sure Stallone doesn’t GAF what anyone thinks of where he golfs. https://t.co/cSeBlfEhgo
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) April 12, 2021
But Stallone also faced criticism on Twitter Monday because Apple announced it would no longer use Georgia for filming “Emancipation,” the runaway slave drama starring Will Smith, because of the state’s controversial restrictive election law signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
Today’s Hollywood scoring: Will Smith is a hero and Sylvester Stallone is a zero. Smith and Apple Studios pull out of film project in Georgia. Stallone supports criminal ex-president by joining Mar-a-Lago. Thank you Will. Shameful Sly. Let’s spread the word.
— Glenn Kirschner (@glennkirschner2) April 12, 2021
Will Smith and Apple Studios pulled out of a movie project in Georgia as a response to racist voter suppression.
Sylvester Stallone has always been a full blown MAGA lunatic, but now he’s openly displaying his insurrectionist loyalty at Mar-a-Lago.
See the difference?
— Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) April 12, 2021