The action comedy film starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt faces a flurry of complaints for a line that makes a reference to the volatile relationship between the '21 Jump Street' actor and his ex-wife.
- May 2, 2024
AceShowbiz - While "The Fall Guy" could make use of word of mouth to boost ticket sales, it has been blasted online over a line in it. The movie starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt has left people appalled with a joke about Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.
In the David Leith-directed action comedy, Hannah Waddingham's character makes a reference to the former couple's volatile relationship. In a scene, Waddingham, who portrays an executive producer in the movie, walks into a trailer while looking disheveled and telling Blunt, who plays director Jody Morone, "It's like Amber and Johnny were just in here."
Some viewers, who got to see "The Fall Guy" early before it is released in U.S. theaters, soon took to social media to voice their complaints about the joke, which has been branded as "distasteful" and "nasty" by some critics. One of them wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, "This is so disappointing." Another wrote, "it's 2024, why are we writing these kinds of lines into movies?"
An appalled viewer tweeted, " 'The Fall Guy' made a distasteful 'joke' about the domestic abuse amber suffered at the hands of johnny. it's 2024, why are we writing these kinds of lines into movies? nasty work." A fourth user wrote that the film "allegedly makes a cheap Amber / J*hnny joke. would love to ask the writer what he thinks is so funny about domestic violence."
Universal Pictures, which distributes the film, has not responded to the backlash.
During press tour, Gosling, who plays a Hollywood stunt performer named Colt Seavers, described "The Fall Guy" as a "love letter to the stunt community." He elaborated, "They are the hardest working people in show business. This movie is just a giant campaign to get stunts an Oscar. We are the face of these films, but the crews really make the movies, and this is a love letter to them."
The movie is scheduled to hit U.S. theaters on May 3 after having its world premiere at SXSW on March 12.
