Sylvester Stallone wanted Rocky Balboa to die at the end of Rocky III after defeating Mr. T’s Clubber Lang.

For better or for worse, the successful Sylvester Stallone movie Rocky has become a successful franchise that continues to this day with the successful Creed series of films. However, that franchise very nearly died decades ago along with Stallone’s character.

According to Slash Film, the Tulsa King actor (who is now executive producing a new boxing movie, Giant) revealed that he wanted the third film to “end with more than a fight” and considered having Rocky keel over and die in a cab ride home after his success in the ring.

Why, though, would Sylvester Stallone ever want to kill off a character as famous and successful as Rocky Balboa? The short answer is that Stallone originally thought that fans of the character and franchise wouldn’t want to see the boxer growing older and getting well past his prime.

Ironically, though, that became a fan-favorite feature of the punch-heavy pugilist: the fact he is willing to take on the odds and prove himself against tougher and tougher foes well past the point that he should have retired.

When Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky finally did hang up his gloves, he took the story full circle by becoming a trainer and mentor to young boxer Adonis Creed. Rocky took on Apollo Creed in the first two movies, and the iconic foe made returns to the franchise in the next two films.

Now that Apollo’s son is an ambitious and talented boxer of his own, it’s fun to see Rocky effectively complete his journey by helping the next generation make their mark.
Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa battling Mr. T’s Clubber Lang in Rocky III (1982)
On paper, we can understand the basic concept of Sylvester Stallone wanting to kill Rocky off in his prime. It offers a way for the character to go out on top and (for better or for worse) ensure that the actor won’t be tethered to the character for countless future films. Harrison Ford wanted to do the same thing by having his legendary Han Solo character die in the original trilogy of Star Wars films, and he seemed far less enthusiastic about returning to the franchise decades later than Stallone has been.

However, there is a key difference in how these two actors wanted to kill off their famous characters. While Ford begged George Lucas frequently to kill off Solo, it was always assumed it would be during a big moment, and when The Force Awakens rolled around, that’s what happened: Han Solo died in a failed attempt to redeem his son Kylo Ren.

By contrast, Sylvester Stallone wanted to give Rocky an ignominious death in the back of a cab, and we’re pretty sure that Balboa’s biggest fans would have absolutely hated such an ending.

Of course, we’re willing to bet that nobody is happier that Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky lived past that third movie than Stallone himself. The franchise helped turn Stallone into a Hollywood legend, and Rocky is arguably a character that has resonated with audiences even more than his other characters such as John Rambo.

Unfortunately, he does not return as this character in Creed III, meaning that we’ll probably never see Rocky get a seventh movie where he gets a rematch with his greatest foe: that weird robot from Rocky IV.

Marilyn Manson’s former assistant Ashley Morgan Smithline drops sexual assault allegations, claiming that Evan Rachel Wood manipulated her into lying about the claims.

In February of 2021, Marilyn Manson’s ex-girlfriend, Evan Rachel Wood, filed a lawsuit against him, claiming the singer sexually assaulted her. Shortly after, five other women, including Game of Thrones actress Esme Bianco, a former assistant, and Ashely Morgan Smithline, filed similar suits.

The case recently got flipped on its head after Ashely Morgan Smithline came out stating that her allegations were false and she had been pressured into them by Evan Rachel Wood, according to a report by Billboard.

In her new filing, Ashley Morgan Smithline reveals how Evan Rachel Wood and others manipulated her to make a false accusation of sexual assault against the rockstar Marilyn Manson.

She claims that after a while, she became convinced that the accusations were true and was unable to remember if the events had actually occurred or were a fabrication. After being repeatedly told that she was just misremembering the events, Smithline slowly became more convinced that they had happened.

That is until last month when Ashley Morgan Smithline fired her lawyer and got her case dismissed. In March of 2022, Marilyn Manson filed a defamation lawsuit against Evan Rachel Wood and another accusor, Illma Gore. In his suit, Manson claimed that the two orchestrated the plan and recruited women to come out simultaneously with false accusations.

Now, Ashley Morgan Smithline is coming out with her own story that corroborates the events laid out in Marilyn Manson’s suit. Smithline claims that she was initially contacted by Evan Rachel Wood and other alleged victims and manipulated into believing she had been sexually assaulted by the singer. Illma Gore allegedly drafted an accusation statement for her and posted it to social media.

Gore then set her up with Esme Bianco’s lawyer, Jay Ellwanger. Ellwanger allegedly pressured her into a publicity tour where she shared the fabricated story with media outlets, including The View and People Magazine. She now maintains that the contents of her allegations are false and she was coerced into filing the lawsuit.

Ashley Morgan Smithline left no names out of her declaration, naming Evan Rachel Wood, Illma Gore, Esme Bianco, and Jay Ellwanger as the people who encouraged and manipulated her into spreading false accusations.

This has prompted a few people to speak out against these claims. Lawyer Jay Ellwanger denies the accusations, calling them “categorically and verifiably false.”

Evan Rachel Wood’s response came through a spokesperson who claims Ashley Morgan Smithline reached out to Wood first and maintains that she was not manipulated by Wood.

The statement goes on to defend Evan Rachel Wood, claiming that Smithline gave in after harassment over her case and that her accusations are false.

Evan Rachel Wood is currently working to get Manson’s defamation case thrown out, citing California’s anti-SLAPP statute.

The statute aims to make it easier for lawsuits that threaten free speech to get dismissed. Wood claims that Marilyn Manson’s lawsuit was filed to punish her for speaking out on her abuse.

However, with Ashley Morgan Smithline’s new statement corroborating Manson’s allegations, it appears that the ani-SLAPP motion is likely to be denied. Only time will tell what the outcome of both lawsuits will end up being.