British action star Jason Statham last week on Facebook copped to maybe possibly makinghomophobic slurs on the set of 2015 film Wild Card, pre-empting the possible release of audio recordings of the incident.
Well, plot twist, today the man threatening to release the audio told Nine News that he and Statham made a deal to keep the recording’s contents from the public, if Statham visited sick kids in hospital. Which, whistleblower and gambling consultant on the film, RJ Cipriani, says the big bad movie star did not do. So that’s why he leaked the story.
There’s a hospital three miles away from anywhere in the world that you’re at.
If Jason can’t take the time to spend 30 minutes with some kids at a hospital… then he deserves to have this come out about him.
Statham is alleged to have had the fucking disgusting – let’s not mince words here – rant in front of a hundred people as part of an argument with his manager, Steven Chasman. Chasman had just relayed notes from Cipriani about how Statham was playing a hand unlike a real gambler would: you know, doing his job as the gambling consultant on a movie about gambling where Statham plays a problem gambler/Vegas bodyguard.
NB: This is about to get really, really shitty, and we know some of our readers have been on the receiving end of gross language like this before, so if reading about a grown man saying the other F-word repeatedly is something you want to avoid, we recommend having a wee scroll.
Here’s just a portion of the transcript of Statham’s homophobic bullshit:
Stop acting like a fucking fag. I hate that faggity fucking shit.
You guys are acting like a bunch of fucking faggots.
If you want to tell me something don’t wait till I do 15 fucking takes before you say something. Stop being a fucking fag and be more assertive.
We are here to make a good movie so stop acting like fucking fags.
There are no words for that kind of language. It’s just completely unacceptable and repugnant – but the exact wording goes a long way to explaining why Statham felt the need to apologise before the story hit. Although it’s a real peevish sorry: more ‘Sorry if you were offended by something I don’t actually believe I said’ than ‘My behaviour was cooked and I am learning from this and committed to doing better.’
Cipriani says he held onto the recording for four years before meeting with Statham and his lawyer in Beverly Hills in December ’17, where the actor denied using the repellent language.
It was there that Statham agreed to visit kids in hospital before the end of March this year to ensure that the “tape and story would never see the light of day“.
Cipriani was then sent a non-disclosure agreement – which he refused to sign – that insisted on the destruction of the recording and the whistleblower’s silence.
The three months came and went and they asked for more time.
Finally, after five months I called [Statham’s manager] and said it was time. They asked for four more months, until the end of the summer because Jason was in London, ‘working on some things’.
The subject of Statham’s rant, Chasman, earlier this month sent WhatsApp messages to Cipriani in an effort to “straighten this” out, saying that the actor had lined up to “do something great for kids… in the end of summer“.
Too little too late for Cipriani apparently – who may be in a spot of bother himself for the leaks: according to The Blast and Statham’s team, a recording of a private convo on set may be a crime, as Wild Card was filmed in New Orleans, where Louisiana‘s Electronic Surveillance Act “bars the recording, interception, use or disclosure of any oral or telephonic communication by means of any mechanical or electronic device without the consent of at least one party to the conversation“.
We’ll let you know if Statham releases another statement, but for now, let’s all agree to not re-watch The Transporter etc, etc, it’s not like they were any good anyway.
