1.
Julia Margulies and Archie Panjabi reportedly did NOT get along on the set of The Good Wife. They did not share scenes for multiple seasons, with their characters estranged as well, until Panjabi exited the show, and the characters finally had a scene together. Except eagle-eyed fans realized the two had shot their goodbye scene separately, then been edited to look like they were together. This was confirmed by the show’s creators…and it seems Margulies was potentially to blame. She implied Panjabi was busy filming her new show, which Panjabi denied, saying she had been in town and was willing to film.
2.
Pauley Perrette and Mark Harmon reportedly also couldn’t film scenes together during NCIS. Their feud started after Harmon brought his dog to the set, and it attacked a crew member, requiring them to get 16 stitches. He then continued to bring his dog to the set, which Perette was unsurprisingly not a fan of. They would then film on different dates, and it was alleged that they were edited together in the same fashion as Margulies and Panjabi.
3.
Shia LaBeouf and Alec Baldwin had so much tension while rehearsing for the 2013 Broadway show Orphans that LaBeouf was actually replaced by Ben Foster. It turns out, this tension was intentional on LaBeouf’s part. The noted method actor attempted to scare Baldwin during rehearsals, saying later, “My whole goal was to intimidate the f— out of Baldwin.” This didn’t stop after he was replaced. “I was trying to take my mind off the play, but I couldn’t do it. So I would follow him from rehearsal to his home,” he revealed. “I needed to have closure.”
4.
Charlize Theron revealed that her “feud” with Mad Max costar Tom Hardy got so bad, she asked for extra security on set. Camera operator Mark Goellnicht said this happened after Hardy arrived three hours late to set and Theron started “swearing her head off at him,” leading to Hardy “charging” up to her and asking “What did you say to me?” in a “quite aggressive” manner. Theron had a producer with her for the rest of the shoot.
5.
Tisha Campbell felt similarly threatened by her Martin co-star, Martin Lawrence, and actually filed a lawsuit accusing him of sexual harassment, battery, and verbal abuse. She said that she was so afraid of Lawrence, who was rumored to carry a firearm, that she got a lock for her dressing room and began talks to install a panic button. She also claimed he once ransacked her dressing room and that at one point, she was hospitalized due to stress. She also alleged that he “tried to force his tongue into Campbell’s mouth, simulated intercourse and forcibly touch her body, all against her will” during a bedroom scene. The suit settled out of court.
Campbell left the show, but she did return for the very end — however, she refused to film scenes with Lawrence. Lawrence continues to deny all this occurred, and they have since made up, with Campbell saying they “worked really hard to reconnect, to forgive.”
6.
Jeffrey Tambor is not exactly a great guy, IMO, so it’s no surprise he butted heads with the late, great Jessica Walter on the set of Arrested Development. What is surprising, however, is that the rest of the cast didn’t back Walters up after it became clear she’d been mistreated on set. In an interview with the New York Times, the interviewer brought up a recent admission from Tambor about having once blown up at Walters on set. “In like almost 60 years of working, I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set,” Walters revealed in response. While the cast defended Tambor’s actions, Walters could be heard crying.
7.
This isn’t the only costar Tambor had issues with. In 2017, Trace Lysette accused Jeffrey Tambor of sexual harassment on the set of Transparent, describing one incident where he said, “I want to attack you sexually” before filming a scene, then “waddled over to me in his pajamas and put his feet on top of mine, and started these little, like, thrusts on my hip. They were discreet and insidious and creepy. I felt his genitals on me. And I pushed him off.”
8.
Lucy Liu and Bill Murray were not exactly friends on the set of Charlie’s Angels. After years of rumors that Murray had been cruel to Liu on set, Liu finally called him out for his behavior in 2021, describing an on-set incident. “As we’re doing the scene, Bill starts to sort of hurl insults, and I won’t get into the specifics, but it kept going on and on,” she recalled. “I was, like, ‘Wow, he seems like he’s looking straight at me.’ I couldn’t believe that [the comments] could be towards me because what do I have to do with anything majorly important at that time?”
“I literally do the look around my shoulder thing, like, who is he talking to behind me? I say, ‘I’m so sorry. Are you talking to me?’ And clearly he was, because then it started to become a one-on-one communication,” Liu continued. “Some of the language was inexcusable and unacceptable, and I was not going to just sit there and take it. So, yes, I stood up for myself and don’t regret it. Because no matter how low on the totem pole you may be or wherever you came from, there’s no need to condescend or to put other people down. And I would not stand down, and nor should I have.”
9.
Speaking of Murray, Geena Davis accused him of making her lie in a bed while he used a massage device on her while they were costarring in Quick Change together, despite her saying no multiple times. She also said he verbally berated many in the cast and crew, including Davis herself. She also discussed inappropriate behavior during the press tour for the film.
10.
One wildly contentious recent feud involves Clayne Crawford and Damon Wayans, who costarred on Lethal Weapon. The two didn’t get along from the start, and Crawford claimed he was blackmailed to stay silent about his issues with Wayans on set, which included Wayans refusing to attend table reads or even filming, calling in sick, and causing production delays. Crawford was ultimately fired after allegations of on-set incidents, including screaming at the first AD.
Tensions between Crawford and Wayans came to a head after Crawford directed an episode, and Wayans got hit with shrapnel while filming a scene. Wayans then reportedly claimed he was being targeted and refused to do any stunts, including squatting or running down stairs. The two then got into an argument with Crawford telling Wayans he was “only famous because of [his brother] Keenan.” Crawford was replaced with Seann William Scott.
11.
Isaiah Washington was fired from Grey’s Anatomy for using an anti-gay slur on set, which some sources claimed was used in connection with his costar T.R. Knight, who is gay (Washington denied this). However, this was not part of any feud with Knight — the co-star he didn’t get along with was male lead Patrick Dempsey. The word was apparently uttered after a physical and verbal altercation with Dempsey (after Dempsey was late), in which Washington told the star, “You’re not going to punk me, you’re not going to treat me like a B-word and you’re not going to treat me like an F-word.”
He said his firing was actually “an agenda to cover up for the toxic and bad behavior of many of my former castmates on that show.” He also alleged that he wasn’t wanted on the show from the start and was offered money not to audition. At the table read, Washington claimed that producer and director Peter Horton said, “I thought we got rid of you,” and that Dempsey threw “up his hands, like, ‘What is he doing here?'” He claimed Dempsey later said, “Isaiah, do you know that white men are the masters of the universe?” This, according to Washington, led to a lot of on-set fighting between the two.
12.
In another example of problematic behavior regarding a co-star, in 2012, Chevy Chase left the hit comedy show Community. Reports claimed he’d used a racial slur on set, but Chase later claimed he’d left because he “honestly felt the show wasn’t funny enough.” However, it was clear there was on-set tension, at least with co-star Donald Glover. According to Glover, Chase often would make racist jokes to him on set or rib him with comments like “People think you’re funnier because you’re Black.”
13.
It’s unclear if this was related to a feud or on-set tensions, but I have to include it because it’s so wild…Martin Kove was once accused of BITING Cobra Kai costar Alicia Hannah-Kim during a meet-and-greet. Hannah-Kim claimed she went to say hello to Kove, and he grabbed her and bit her “so hard he nearly drew blood,” then began kissing where he’d bit her. After confronting him, he apparently claimed he was trying to be funny. Kove later apologized, saying, “I was being playful in the moment, but I went too far, and there is absolutely no excuse for my behavior.”
14.
In a slightly silly example, Max Wright reportedly DESPISED the ALF puppet on the show ALF. Wright, once a serious theater actor, called working with the puppet “very grim,” with a costar noting he had issues “playing second fiddle to a puppet.” One day, he reportedly lost it, attacking the puppet and yelling, “PUT US ON STICKS! WE’RE ALL PUPPETS HERE!” He was so unhappy on the show that after it wrapped, he apparently walked directly to his dressing room and then left without even saying goodbye to any costars.
15.
There were plenty of rumors about Brett Butler’s problematic behavior on the set of Grace Under Fire, but one incident in particular stands out. The actor playing Butler’s character’s son, 12-year-old Jon Paul Steuer, left the show after an alleged incident where “Butler hiked up her skirt and flashed her bosom in front of Steuer.” She also reportedly flashed others on set.
Butler was eventually fired, and the show ended after she threw a soda can at the show’s executive producer and shouted expletives at him in front of a studio audience. She later acknowledged addiction issues at that time and said, “At the bloody bitter end, I really was difficult. I was out of my mind. Drugs will do that to you.”
16.
Tim Allen’s The Santa Clauses co-star Casey Wilson accused Allen of being “such a bitch” and “so fucking rude” on the show, calling it “the truly single worst experience I’ve ever had with a costar ever.” In one scene, she said, he went up to a producer “four feet” from her and told him to tell her to stop stepping on his lines. “The producer turns to me with horror on his face and has to walk one foot to me and he goes, ‘Um, Tim would ask that you stop stepping on his lines,'” she recalled. She also said he “never made eye contact” and “never said anything.” And after shooting a close-up, he said “Leaving!” dropping his Santa cape on the floor, and left, leaving a stand-in in his place.
17.
Janet Hubert, who played Aunt Viv on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, infamously feuded with Will Smith after clashing on the set of the show, which led to Hubert being replaced. Hubert said she left after rejecting a “bad deal” where she couldn’t film for any other show, and that the producers decided to recast her instead of renegotiating. She was told that this was due to Will Smith wanting her out. Smith later said Hubert “wanted the show to be The Aunt Viv of Bel-Air Show.”
18.
Shannen Doherty caused issues with just about everyone on the set of Beverly Hills, 90210. “Her lateness was appalling,” said former executive producer Charles Rosin. Producer Aaron Spelling claimed cast members were so upset that they called him and asked him to get her there on time. One day, her lateness caused co-star Jason Priestley, who played Brandon Walsh, her character’s brother, to say, “I’ve had it.” He wasn’t the only co-star frustrated with Doherty. According to Tori Spelling, Doherty and co-star Jennie Garth physically fought. Ultimately, the cast united to get her fired, with Tori calling her father, who did end up firing Doherty.
19.
T.J. Miller called Ryan Reynolds “horrifically mean” on the set of Deadpool, due to Reynolds acting “in character.” However, at one point, he insulted Miller directly by saying, “You know what’s great about you, Weasel? You’re not the star, but you do just enough exposition that it’s funny and then we can leave and get back to the real movie.’ Miller also called Reynolds “kind of an insecure dude,” and said the uncomfortable comment left him not wanting to work with Reynolds again.
20.
Speaking of Miller, his Silicon Valley co-star Alice Wetterlund once called him a “bully and petulant brat,” describing working with him as “kind of a nightmare” and saying his male costars enabled him. Miller had left the show at this point, in what was said to be a mutual decision. Other cast members described him as “explosive” and said he’d sleep on set and overall seemed like he didn’t want to be there.
21.
Kate Mulgrew was reportedly not a fan of Jeri Ryan on Star Trek: Voyager, especially considering the boundary-breaking role as a female captain Mulgrew had…and the obvious sex appeal the show was trying to add with Ryan. There were reportedly numerous “petty” incidents on set, according to Ryan. Costar Garrett Wang corroborated this by claiming Mulgrew tried to make it so that Ryan wasn’t allowed to use the bathroom during work, as “it takes too much time to get her in and out of that suit.” Ryan claimed she’d get nauseous before filming with a co-star, who she didn’t name, but appeared to be Mulgrew.
“When there were a lot of scenes with this person the next day, I was sick to my stomach all night, just miserable. It was so unnecessary and just so petty,” she said. She also recalled a time when the hair and makeup team was doing touch-ups between shots and “[The co-star] shut the door to the set, and said, ‘She’s fine. LET’S GO.’ Wouldn’t let them in.” She also recalled, “Another time, I don’t even think it was the same day, but a different scene with that person on the same set — we do their side first, and then it’s my coverage on close-up for this really intense scene. The literally sat off-camera picking their nails, thumbing through a book, and just haphazardly saying their lines off camera without even making eye contact.”
22.
Like Ryan, Chicago P.D. star Sophia Bush refrained from naming the co-star who made her life on-set extremely difficult, but fans were pretty sure they knew who it was. After leaving the show, Bush detailed her harrowing on-set experience due to “every kind of abusive” treatment from an older co-star whom she did not name. Appearing on Monica Lewinsky’s podcast, she called her time on the show “like physical hell” and said she’d wake up with hives and that her hair started falling out due to her anxiety. “I had to go to work ready for war all the time,” she said. It got to the point where she was diagnosed with PTSD. Co-star Jason Beghe was later investigated for anger issues after complaints from co-stars.
23.
Eliza Dushku also dealt with harassment from a co-star. She was actually fired from the series Bull after complaining about sexual harassment from her co-star, Michael Weatherly. Dushku said she “found myself the brunt of crude, sexualized, and lewd verbal assaults” and “suffered near constant sexual harassment” from Weatherly. “This was beyond anything I had experienced in my 30-year career,” she said. He allegedly called her “Legs” and “would smell [her] and [leeringly look her] up and down. Off script, in front of about 100 crew members and cast members, he once said that he would take [her] to his ‘rape’ van and use lube and long phallic things on me and take [her] over his knee and spank [her] like a little girl.”
24.
Alexa Nikolas opened up in 2019 about Jamie Lynn Spears and other Zoey 101 cast members allegedly bullying her on the set of the teen show. Nikolas, who was notably written out of the show after Season 2, seemed to take issue with Spears specifically. She revealed she was once lured into a room with Jamie Lynn and her sister Britney Spears under false pretenses, and deliberately separated from her mother. Britney Spears reportedly screamed at Nikolas and threatened her future in Hollywood.
Nikolas says she was left traumatized by the experience, sobbing in the fetal position in her trailer. The show’s creator, Dan Schneider, allegedly asked her to get back on set and gave her a DVD player to get her to stop crying.
25.
Another celeb accused of creating a toxic environment on set is Lea Michele. After guest star Samantha Marie Ware accused Michele of racist bullying involving “traumatic microaggressions,” Amber Riley seemed to support the claims after posting a GIF of her sipping tea, and Alex Newell also took to social media to support Ware’s claims. Heather Morris later revealed there was a “hush hush” atmosphere about Lea’s “scary” on-set behavior.
26.
John Leguizamo says costar Steven Seagal bullied him and others during Executive Decision, and claims he even physically assaulted Leguizamo during the first day of rehearsals. “He came in and was like, [low, breathy voice] ‘I’m in command. What I say is law.’ … Who comes into rehearsal and says that shit? So, I started laughing, and he slammed me with an aikido elbow against a brick wall and knocked all the air out of me,” Leguizamo continued.
27.
Daniel Franzese (best known for playing Damian in Mean Girls) also accused Bully costar Bijou Phillips of being an actual bully on the set of the film. “She body-shamed me and ridiculed me about my sexuality and physically assaulted me,” he said, revealing he was scared to speak up and lose his job.
She later reportedly gave Franzese an insincere apology before twisting his nipple. During another scene, Franzese claims Phillips put her dirty feet on his neck and then kicked him. “To this day, I’m not even sure if she gave me a concussion because I was lightheaded and dizzy for a while,” he said, revealing the whole experience gave him PTSD and caused him to remain closeted.
28.
Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker have one of the most infamously fractured relationships on this list, though it’s unclear exactly what went down between them. After Sex and the City ended, Cattrall said she was never friends with her costars, and that she felt SJP “could’ve been nicer,” pointing out that none of her costars called her when it was rumored she was having contract issues with Sex and the City 2. But there had long been rumors of feuds, even before this. One potential source? After Parker got a higher salary for being an executive producer in Season 2 of the original show, Cattrall negotiated for a higher salary.
Crew members and her main castmates were reportedly unhappy about this and “wouldn’t even sit with [Cattrall] at mealtimes.” Cattrall sat apart from the other main cast members at the 2004 Emmys, saying they weren’t “the best of friends.” By the time the second film was shooting, Cattrall and Parker’s feud seemed to have escalated, and they apparently weren’t speaking. The animosity seemed to continue way past the show, with Cattrall declining to appear in the sequel series, And Just Like That.
Cattrall also put Parker on blast after Parker publicly sent condolences following Cattrall’s brother’s death. She posted: “I don’t need your love or support at this tragic time @sarahjessicaparker” and followed it up with: “Your continuous reaching out is a painful reminder of how cruel you really were then and now. Let me make this VERY clear. (If I haven’t already) You are not my family. You are not my friend. So I’m writing to tell you one last time to stop exploiting our tragedy in order to restore your ‘nice girl’ persona.”
29.
And finally, we’ll end on one of the most infamous examples of costars who were enemies. Joan Crawford and Bette Davis’ feud was the stuff of legend, and it all came to a head when the two starred in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? together. In one scene, Davis had to pull Crawford along the floor, so Crawford put rocks in her pockets to make it more difficult. Davis also had a Coke machine put in her dressing room to spite Crawford, who was married to the CEO of Pepsi.
After Davis was nominated for an Oscar for the film, and Crawford wasn’t, Crawford nevertheless ended up accepting the award for the winner, Anne Bancroft, who couldn’t attend. Davis was reportedly furious, especially considering the pleasure Crawford seemed to take in it all.
Got any more examples of co-stars who did NOT get along? Let us know in the comments below!
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