Sylvester Stallone slams ‘Rocky’ producer over ownership rights

nypost.com:

social media post on Saturday regarding the ownership of the iconic boxing franchise.Stallone penned and starred in 1976’s “Rocky,” as well as its five sequels and even sat in the director’s chair for some.Alongside a “very flattering” painting of Winkler with a knife coming out of his mouth, the “Rambo” star wrote: “After IRWIN controlling ‘ROCKY’ for over 47 years, and now ‘CREED,’ I really would like have at least a little WHAT’s LEFT of my RIGHTS back.” He went on, “Before passing it on to ONLY YOUR CHILDREN, I believe that would be a FAIR gesture from this [91-year-old] gentleman?”Winkler’s son, David, is a producer on the “Rocky” spinoff series, “Creed.”A post shared by Sly Stallone (@officialslystallone)“This is a painful subject That eats at my soul, because I wanted to leave something of Rocky for my children, but it’s always great hearing from the loyal fans,” the New York native added. “Keep Punching.”Stallone also blasted David’s recent novel “The Arrangement: A Love Story,” in a separate post, calling it “by far [one of] the worst” books he’s ever read.“If you ever run out of toilet paper PLEASE by this one you won’t be disappointed.

It’s very absorbent,” the “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” star penned.He wrote that the book is an “unbearable worthless dreck, written by the painfully untalented David Winkler who is the son of the remarkably untalented and parasitical Producer of ‘Rocky’ and ‘Creed.'”Elsewhere in his Instagram post, Stallone stated he “really respected and LOVED” Winkler’s co-producer Robert Chartoff.Chartoff — who died in 2015 — “had real talent and soul” and “passed away much too soon.” “If it wasn’t for Winkler, there would’ve been at least another three ‘Rocky’s,’ that would’ve been.