Quotes

If someone or something pushes you, it's easier to push back and lean against it, than it is to lose your balance.

It's not what you know, it's who you are.

[on being misrepresented in Foxcatcher (2014)] When I saw the film at Cannes last year, that was the first time I had seen the final version. The audience gave it an eight-minute ovation. I was relieved because, while I was watching it, it was really uncomfortable. I was like, 'That's not me, that never happened.' But everybody jumped out of their seats and cheered, and I was like, 'Holy crap, these people really like this movie.' Then the publicity started. The first article I read compared it to [drama about a gay couple] Behind the Candelabra (2013). I got so angry when I heard that. I thought, 'OK, maybe it's just this one guy.' Then other articles were coming out. And then I read another article about this homosexuality, and I was like, 'Son-of-a-bitch! Other people are thinking this!' No way am I gonna let this go on. Sony hired a publicist to try and control me, make sure I didn't go off the ranch, make sure I didn't explode. But nobody can control me, it's impossible. And I started reading other articles like that, and I started getting more and more angry. I called my publicist and said, 'Hey man, what are you doing, how can you let this happen? I want that guy's head on a platter!' And I'm just pissed off. Finally, I read one article from the Washington Times, where the guy made it sound like Bennett Miller intended to create this idea that a homosexual relationship could have existed between me and that lowlife pig. I was like, 'That's it, you are fucking dead.' I called up my publicist to say, 'You're fired!' And I called up Bennett and threatened to kill him. I apologised later, and then he invited me to the Oscars, but I just couldn't take it any more. [May 2015]

[how he'd asked director Bennett Miller to remove the ambiguous 'nocturnal wrestling practice' scene after seeing an early cut of Foxcatcher (2014) in 2013] I thought it looked gay. And he said, 'No it's not gay, it's just showing how Du Pont is gradually encroaching upon your privacy and personal space.' And I was like, 'Really? OK.' [May 2015]

[on Foxcatcher (2014)'s fictitious characterization of himself] I don't see how anybody could see an Olympic champion as being emotionally fragile. It's the complete opposite of what you have to be. [May 2015]

[to director Bennett Miller] You think I'm going to sit back and watch you destroy my name and the reputation I sweat blood for? [Twitter, Dec. 2014]

[on Foxcatcher (2014)] I hate the way I'm portrayed. [Twitter, Dec. 2014]

[on Foxcatcher (2014) and the controversy about its misrepresentations] I'm glad things turned out exactly the way they turned out. I'm glad it was made. I'm not really happy it was made with that [fictitious 'nocturnal wrestling practice'] scene in it. But I'm glad it was made. I'm glad my brother [Olympic wrestling champion Dave Schultz] was immortalised. I'm glad it launched my speaking career. And I'm glad I exploded on Twitter, and I'm glad I apologized. [May 2015]