The five-year feud between George Clooney and filmmaker David O Russell, hatched on the set of Three Kings, yesterday flared into life once more in combative magazine interviews.
Speaking in the November issue of Premiere, Clooney said he would hit Russell if he ever approached. "Quite honestly, if he comes near me, I'll sock him right in the fucking mouth," Clooney says.
The ill-feeling stems from an incident on the set of the hit 1999 war picture when Clooney claims he was headbutted and insulted by Russell, provoking him into trapping the filmmaker in a headlock.
Crew members have spoken of a fight that broke out after Russell allegedly kicked one crew member and fired another.
For his part, Russell says Clooney was the first to get heavy. "I never physically attacked him. If I ran into him, I'd say, 'Shut the fuck up, you lying-ass bitch.'"
Russell is currently promoting his latest US release I Heart Huckabees, a comedy about an existential detective agency starring Jude Law, Naomi Watts, Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, and Mark Wahlberg. It plays as the closing film to the London film festival next month.
Clooney stars in the upcoming heist sequel Ocean's Twelve alongside Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Julia Roberts.