Will David O. Russell Get ‘Canceled’?

Many great directors have been known to showcase abusive behaviour in the past; Alfred Hitchcock forced Tippi Hedren to perform with birds tied to her costume during filming of “The Birds,” going on to boast that actors should be treated like cattle. Even more notoriously, Lars Von Trier broke Bjork’s spirit on “Dancer in the Dark,” so much so that the actress would begin every day by telling Von Trier how much she hated him, and spitting in his face. She vowed to never act again. Michael Mann reportedly once fired a crewmember for wearing a red shirt, a color he hates. Stanley Kubrick’s “cruel” behaviour pushing star Shelly Duvall to mental exhaustion on the set of “The Shining” is rather infamous. The list can go on forever.

Which leads us to Twitter so desperately trying to cancel director David O. Russell. The director’s name was trending late yesterday afternoon after Taylor Swift was cast in his new as-yet-untitled film. Swift joined a stacked cast of actors that included Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, Rami Malek, John David Washington, Mike Myers, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Michael Shannon, Timothy Olyphant, and Zoe Saldana. Wowza.

Sadly, Russell, a director of exceptional talents, has a reputation of being a major asshole to work with. Yesterday’s news led to a slew of Russell-Needs-to-Be-Cancelled think pieces — here, here, here, here.

Russell’s past actions have included on-set tantrums, screaming matches, and persistent humiliation of his actors. On the set of 1999’s “Three Kings”, a second assistant director quit due to his abusive behaviour. George Clooney has even admitted to coming close to punching him on the set of that film. Russell even started provoking Clooney, banging him on the head and saying, “Hit me, you pussy, hit me.” Clooney called the shoot the worst experience of his life. 

However, absolutely nothing will beat the purposely leaked footage on the set of 2004’s “I Heart Huckabees”, where we can see Lily Tomlin absolutely losing it on Russell. As one of the emails from the Sony hack/leak noted, “(O. Russell’s) abuse and lunatic behavior is extreme even by Hollywood standards.” And yet, because he’s the man who directed “Flirting With Disaster,” “Three Kings,” “Silver Linings Playbook” and “American Hustle,” it all gets swept under the rug. The industry’s hypocrisy, although fairly well known, can be so blatant at times.

Amy Adams admitted to crying almost every day on the set of “American Hustle” — the actress admitted to GQ, “He was hard on me, that’s for sure. It was a lot.”

Want some even more absurd David O. Russell behaviour? How about that time he put none other than Christopher Nolan in a headlock at a party because Jude Law wanted to be in Nolan’s movie instead of his.

Sexual abuse is not off the table either when it comes to Russell. His transgender niece, Nicole Peloquin, filed a report against him when she was just 19 accusing him of groping her at the gym. Russell not only admitted to the assault, but actually had the chutzpah to blame his niece for his obscene behaviour, saying she was “acting very provocative toward him” and invited him to feel her breasts. He also admitted to being “curious about the breast enhancement.”

This behaviour has been well-known for years, and Russell has continued making movies despite all that. However, his last film was 2015’s “Joy,” the #MeToo movement didn’t really rev up its engines until 2017. You’d think that whoever greenlit his new movie would have foreseen this incoming potential shitstorm, but no, instead he is set to shoot his next film this summer, with the best cast he’s ever assembled.

However, it seems as though, judging by a few in-the-know people I’ve spoken to the last 24 hours, Russell has mellowed out these last few years, “he’s not the same guy he was 10 years ago,” says an industry insider who is also a friend of Russell’s. Does that mean we should forgive and forget about his past abusive behaviour? It’s become an all-too-rare occurrence, in the era of “Cancel Culture,” for people to forgive and forget, but maybe it’s time.

I presume we’ll know the answer to most of these questions when his new film gets released in late 2021.