Looks like season 2 of Tulsa King may take a bit longer that expected to debut…
The Taylor Sheridan created drama featuring Sylvester Stallone as an ex New York mafia capo was one of the most successful shows Sheridan produced after the success of Yellowstone, becoming the second most streamed show on Paramount+, trailing only 1923, according to Deadline.
Earlier this year it was announced that Tulsa King would be making its linear TV debut on CBS after it was quickly renewed for a second season just weeks after premiering, but news is coming out that seems to push the release of season 2 back a bit further.
Catrett Locke Casting, who was contracted to fill background roles in the show, posted on Facebook two days ago saying that they had parted ways with Tulsa King, although no reason for the break was given.
“We wanted to send you an update on the happenings here in our casting world. We have chosen to part ways with Tulsa King. We will be finishing up next week and the 12th will be our last day. We send well wishes to whomever takes over the show. We thank all of you great background artists for your continued support.”
I’m no expert in the world of TV casting but I would think these things happen and it was probably over some contract dispute or some other minutia that clogs up the Hollywood world, but some further posts were made that allege the break happened due to some comments made by Sylvester Stallone himself.
Rose Locke was the casting director assigned to the show, but according to an X post by TV writer Julie Benson which featured an email and a screenshot from a private Facebook group for background actors, she quit due to the “clear toxic environment” during filming.
The Facebook post, made by a group moderator, read in part:
“HEADS UP – Tulsa King
While working on TK this week Sylvester Stallone was observed calling the director over and saying “what the *** is up with this ****** ugly background.” He and the director proceeded to call certain people terrible names and laughed at them.
“Tub of lard”, “fat guy with cane” and was making fun of their weight and handicaps. Sly said, “Bring in pretty young girls to be around me.”
If true, it’s certainly not a great look for Sly and Tulsa King, although executive producer Craig Zisk denied the allegations to TMZ.
According to Zisk, Rose Locke wasn’t even on set while the comments were allegedly made and the agency had miscast extras for a scene at a hip, young bar, bringing in people considerably older than the 25 to 35 year old range requested. Zisk says they wound up using the actors anyway.
Zisk also said he requested headshots from Locke to make sure the actors fit with the show’s theme, but she refused, said she didn’t work in that way, and then quit an hour later. He also denied that Sly asked for “pretty young girls” to be brought in to be around him, as his wife was on set during filming.
There’s certainly a lot going on here and most likely it will all blow over as things like this tend to do. Of course, you can’t disparage actors based on their looks and no one thinks it’s okay to be calling people a “tub of lard,” but the creators of a show do have the ability to bring in the talent they want for scenes and should be allowed to cast the people they see fit for the show’s vision.
All I know is I hope it gets squared away because season one hooked me and I’m looking forward to season two whenever that does get released.
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