- If someone or something pushes you, it's easier to push back and lean against it, than it is to lose your balance.
- It's not what you know, it's who you are.
- [on being misrepresented in Foxcatcher (2014)] When I saw the film at Cannes last year, that was the first time I had seen the final version. The audience gave it an eight-minute ovation. I was relieved because, while I was watching it, it was really uncomfortable. I was like, 'That's not me, that never happened.' But everybody jumped out of their seats and cheered, and I was like, 'Holy crap, these people really like this movie.' Then the publicity started. The first article I read compared it to [drama about a gay couple] Behind the Candelabra (2013). I got so angry when I heard that. I thought, 'OK, maybe it's just this one guy.' Then other articles were coming out. And then I read another article about this homosexuality, and I was like, 'Son-of-a-bitch! Other people are thinking this!' No way am I gonna let this go on. Sony hired a publicist to try and control me, make sure I didn't go off the ranch, make sure I didn't explode. But nobody can control me, it's impossible. And I started reading other articles like that, and I started getting more and more angry. I called my publicist and said, 'Hey man, what are you doing, how can you let this happen? I want that guy's head on a platter!' And I'm just pissed off. Finally, I read one article from the Washington Times, where the guy made it sound like Bennett Miller intended to create this idea that a homosexual relationship could have existed between me and that lowlife pig. I was like, 'That's it, you are fucking dead.' I called up my publicist to say, 'You're fired!' And I called up Bennett and threatened to kill him. I apologised later, and then he invited me to the Oscars, but I just couldn't take it any more. [May 2015]
- [how he'd asked director Bennett Miller to remove the ambiguous 'nocturnal wrestling practice' scene after seeing an early cut of Foxcatcher (2014) in 2013] I thought it looked gay. And he said, 'No it's not gay, it's just showing how Du Pont is gradually encroaching upon your privacy and personal space.' And I was like, 'Really? OK.' [May 2015]
- [on Foxcatcher (2014)'s fictitious characterization of himself] I don't see how anybody could see an Olympic champion as being emotionally fragile. It's the complete opposite of what you have to be. [May 2015]
- [to director Bennett Miller] You think I'm going to sit back and watch you destroy my name and the reputation I sweat blood for? [Twitter, Dec. 2014]
- [on Foxcatcher (2014)] I hate the way I'm portrayed. [Twitter, Dec. 2014]
- [on Foxcatcher (2014) and the controversy about its misrepresentations] I'm glad things turned out exactly the way they turned out. I'm glad it was made. I'm not really happy it was made with that [fictitious 'nocturnal wrestling practice'] scene in it. But I'm glad it was made. I'm glad my brother [Olympic wrestling champion Dave Schultz] was immortalised. I'm glad it launched my speaking career. And I'm glad I exploded on Twitter, and I'm glad I apologized. [May 2015]
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content