Bruce Willis Hated Kevin Smith So Much That He Had to Be Photoshopped Into ‘Cop Out’ Movie Posters
Earlier last week, news broke out that famed actor Bruce Willis was stepping away from acting following an aphasia diagnosis. The industry and the world rallied around the Die Hard star to offer their support.
One of the people who showed love for Willis was his nemesis Kevin Smith who rescinded his past remarks and extended his sincerest wishes. The two worked together in the 2010 film Cop Out. Willis reportedly hated Smith so much that he refused to do a promotional shoot and had to be photoshopped into movie posters. Here’s what we know about their ill-fated friendship.
‘Cop Out’ is a buddy cop action-comedy film starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan
Cop Out focuses on two detectives, Jimmy and Paul, whose failure to capture a suspect (thus endangering civilians) gets them suspended without pay. Jimmy’s daughter is getting married, but the wedding costs $50,000. While her stepfather offers to pay for it, Jimmy is hellbent on not giving him the chance.
He vows to come up with the money and goes to sell his baseball card. The shop gets robbed, and the thief makes away with the card. Jimmy and Paul find out the thief is planning a robbery that night. They stake the place out, and although they arrest him, he’d already sold the car to a drug dealer.
They approach the drug dealer, who gives them one condition: to retrieve a stolen car for him. Meanwhile, Paul’s wife is having an affair, and Paul later learns that she staged the whole thing since he didn’t trust her.
Jimmy bails the thief out to get the card from the drug dealer’s house, but he falls and hits his head hard. This forces Jimmy to do it himself. When he arrives at the home, the dealer’s gang surrounds him. The drug dealer is also holding a woman hostage. After killing the gang members, the two detectives kill the dealer.
Unfortunately for Jimmy, the bullet went through his card, which the dealer had in his shirt pocket. With nothing to sell, Jimmy allows his daughter’s stepfather to pay for the wedding. His ex-wife convinces him to let Roy walk Ava down the aisle with him, but he points the gun at Roy discreetly when it’s time.
Kevin Smith and Bruce Willis hated each other so much Willis had to be photoshopped into posters
Rumors flew that things weren’t hunky-dory while filming Cop Out. Collider reports that Smith and Willis had problems constantly while shooting. In an interview on Marc Maron’s podcast, Smith says, “One guy wouldn’t even sit for a f**ng poster shoot,” hinting at Willis.
When Maron prompted the Cop Out director to give up a name, Smith said, “Everyone knows who it is. Put it this way, remember the really funny guy in the movie? It isn’t him. He’s a f–king dream. Tracy Morgan, I would lay down in traffic for.” Smith further credited Morgan for getting him through the making of the movie without offing himself or someone else.
Kevin Smith recently walked back his comments
When Smith learned of Willis’ diagnosis, he went on Twitter to share his support and take back his harsh comments about the actor.
He said, “Long before any of the Cop Out stuff, I was a big Bruce Willis fan- So this is really heartbreaking to read. He loved to act and sing and the loss of that has to be devastating for him. I feel like an asshole for my petty complaints from 2010. So sorry to BW and his family.”
Aphasia is a condition that impairs speech and affects one’s ability to write or understand language.
