A fight between Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme in Sylvester Stallone’s back garden might sound like a scene from a high-octane 1990s action movie – but it was very much a real proposition.
Seemingly fed up with Seagal bad mouthing him, doubting his martial arts credentials and claiming he could “kick his a**”, Van Damme apparently invited his rival to settle things “outside” – twice.
The tale of what happened next on that night in 1997 varies depending on which of the movie hardmen you ask, but what’s clear is that there was certainly no love lost between the pair.
It all started a few years earlier, when Seagal, who turns 71 today (April 10), appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1991.
(Image: Bei/REX/Shutterstock)
At the time, both he and Van Damme, dubbed “the muscles from Brussels”, were considered two of Hollywood’s toughest leading men, having trained and excelled in martial arts.
But things turned sour when Seagal cast doubts on the Belgian’s fighting record.
Asked by Hall if he knew Van Damme, he replied curtly: “No.”
And he could only muster a nod when asked if he had at least heard of the Bloodsport star.
When the host asked him what he thought of Van Damme’s work, he stared at his feet and asked to change the subject.
Eventually, though, Hall got a bite – and it sparked a bitter feud that has lasted more than 30 years.
(Image: Sygma via Getty Images)
Hall described Van Damme as a martial arts champion, referencing him as part of the Belgian Karate Team.
Seagal could bite his tongue no more, responding: “I just promised all my mentors I was going to be a good boy.
He said: “I think that’s a matter of opinion he was champion anywhere. I’m not being catty or anything, I wish the guy all the best. But there are an awful lot of people who say that’s not true.”
Van Damme, then a teenager, was reportedly part of the Belgian team that won the European Karate Championship in 1979.
He was asked about his relationship with Seagal in an interview in 1994, claiming he was baffled by the beef.
(Image: Donat Sorokin/TASS)
On Seagal, he said: “Well, he’s a good guy, but he’s too tense. I saw him in Planet Hollywood and I said, ‘Hey, Steven, you speak bad about me on TV. Why?’
“And he goes–” he breaks off, spewing Cro-Magnonesque mutterings, then continues in his own voice. “I said, ‘Come on, look, I’m a nice guy. Am I a bad guy?’ I shook his hand, he relaxed.
“Hey, it’s okay if he wants to say things. It’s not my problem.”
Seagal, a 7th-dan black belt in aikido, reignited the feud the following year in a chat with Brazilian talkshow host Jo Soares, describing Van Damme as “boring”.
(Image: Publicity Picture)
And things apparently threatened to erupt into heavy violence when the two men came face to face at a party held at Stallone’s Miami house in 1997.
The shindig was a who’s who of action heroes and mountainous men, with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Shaquille O’Neal all present.
But it was 5ft 10ins Van Damme and 6ft 4ins Seagal who stole the spotlight.
Stallone described the clash in an interview with FHM magazine, saying: “At a party in my home in Miami in 1997, Van Damme was tired of Seagal claiming he could kick his ass so he offered Seagal outside into my back yard.”
Revealing a second invitation to fight, he continued: “Seagal made his excuses and left. But Van Damme, who was berserk, tracked him down at a nightclub and offered him out again.”
He was also clear on who he thought would win the fight, adding: “Van Damme was too strong. Seagal wanted none of it.”
(Image: Publicity Picture)
Some years later, in 2010, Van Damme addressed the incident on French TV.
The Kickboxer star, now 62, said: “No fight was made, just a little pushing. Because it was a beautiful house. Had beautiful furniture. I was p***ed a little and said to Steven come outside.
“I waited two hours but he never came. Steven was very disrespectful that night.”
Hard to Kill star Seagal has a different version of events, though.
On his reality TV show Steven Seagal: Lawman, which showed him in his position as a reserve deputy sheriff, he was asked if it was true that he got into a scrap with Van Damme.
(Image: CBS via Getty Images)
He replied: “No. It would be like me squashing an ant. If he sees me he runs.”
In 2012, Van Damme told the Howard Stern radio show: “That evening I think Steven was kind of tipsy tipsy happy, like I was sometimes and I don’t know maybe.”
He added: “It all started on the Jay Leno show years ago when Jay asked to Steven Seagal, ‘You know Van Damme?’
“And he said, ‘He is not good in martial arts’, but he never met me though. And also it’s like…That’s when it started I guess.”
Judging by Seagal’s comments in 2015, the feud showed no signs of going away.
In a discussion about which actors he would like by his side in a fight, he was asked for his “thoughts” on Van Damme as a contender.
His response was as damning as ever as he replied: “Can I laugh in your face?”
Seagal last month said he was “one million per cent” Russian after receiving an award from president Vladimir Putin.
The actor, who was born and raised in the US, was given an Order of Friendship medal in recognition of his support of the nation’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
