Sylvester Stallone Reveals His 20-Year Feud With Arnold Schwarzenegger Started With a Golden Globes Flower Toss

Sylvester Stallone just took us behind the scenes of one of Hollywood’s most famous rivalries. On the November 5 episode of‘The Rest Is Entertainment’podcast, he recalled how his feud with Arnold Schwarzenegger kicked off at the 1977 Golden Globes, where Schwarzenegger won Best Newcomer and, in Stallone’s telling, eyeballed him from across the room. When Rocky later won Best Motion Picture — Drama, Stallone celebrated by throwing flowers at him.

It didn’t cool off from there. Stallone described the rivalry as“very confrontational,”with both stars fighting to lead the action genre. Schwarzenegger has said his early salary was just 10 percent of Stallone’s, and that gap motivated him to catch up. The competition lasted about 20 years before the two finally crossed paths at a cigar shop while Schwarzenegger was running for California governor, where Stallone thanked him for lighting a fire under him.

So the feud that fueled two of the biggest careers in Hollywood ended in mutual respect. Not the ending any action movie fan saw coming, but definitely a satisfying one. Who’s your favorite celebrity rivalry or friendship in Hollywood? Let us know in the comments.