Under fire from the left, actor Sylvester Stallone on Tuesday shot down claims that he joined former President Donald Trump’s private club in Palm Beach.
The denial: “I mean no disrespect to anyone, I’m simply not a member .. So Keep Punching Folks,” Stallone, 74, said on Instagram.
- The post included a photo of an April 7 New York Post Page Six report linking Stallone to Mar-a-Lago which was subsequently picked up by other news outlets.
“Contrary to media reports and rumors, Sylvester Stallone is officially not a member of the Mar-a-Lago Club,” Michelle Bega said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday evening.
- “He did not join the organization, he did not pay initiation dues.”
- According to Bega, the “area insiders” cited in the Page Six report were mislead by Stallone’s appearance at a recent Mar-a-Lago fundraiser to build adoption shelters for animals.
- Stallone bought a compound in Palm Beach in December.
The fallout: Some liberal commentators on Twitter expressed relief following the denial by Stallone, who is beloved for his iconic starring roles in the “Rocky” and “Rambo” movie franchises.
Others, though, were left to grapple with having viciously insulted the actor over an apparently false rumor based on his support for stray animals.
Prominent progressives on Twitter had called him “true blue piece of sh*t,” a “washed up dumbfuck,” and a “disappointment” who “received too many punches to the head,”
MSNBC contributor Glenn Kirschner suggested Stallone was an enemy of democracy and echoed others who praised actor Will Smith by contrast.
The Trump connection: In 2018, Stallone visited the White House to watch Trump posthumously pardon boxer Jack Johnson at his urging.
- In 2016, Stallone celebrated Trump’s election victory at a New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago.
- Earlier that year, Trump invited Stallone to head the National Endowment for the Arts, but the actor declined: “I believe I could be more effective by bringing national attention to returning military personnel in an effort to find gainful employment, suitable housing and financial assistance these heroes respectfully deserve.”
