Mark Schultz Speaks Out on Channing Tatum’s Portrayal in ‘Foxcatcher’

Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz originally appeared to endorse Foxcatcher, a film based on him and his brother and the tragedy that went down at Foxcatcher estate. However now Schultz has spoken out at the film’s director, Bennett Miller, over Channing Tatum’s portrayal of himself.

Schultz had posted a photo of himself with Miller and Tatum at the film’s premiere on his Facebook page, but now it seems he has changed his mind about the director and his movie, which also featured Mark Ruffalo and Steve Carell as manipulative real-life wrestling manager John du Pont.

In a series of overnight rants on Twitter.com on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, Schulz threatened the director after pointing out Foxcatcher’s factual errors in a lengthy Facebook tirade.

He wrote, “I was already an Olympic and WORLD Champion before I met du Pont. The director took my 1985 World Title away in the film. I was not emotionally fragile as critics suggest.

“I never looked up to duPont as a mentor, leader, father figure. He was a lot dirtier the first time I met him and he was drunk… du Pont was a repulsive sickening freak. I could barely stand looking at him. I never touched him except for a photo at the hall of fame and when I threw him in a headlock for a documentary. I never showed him any moves or taught him anything about wrestling. I never coached him in a wrestling match. I never read any speech he gave me. I never dyed my hair.

“The movie doesn’t show hardly any of my victories. It focuses on only my losses. The personalities and relationships between the characters in the film are primarily fiction and somewhat insulting.”

Schultz also takes issue with a scene that leaves the audience believing he and du Pont had a sexual relationship, adding, “I told Bennett Miller to cut that scene out and he said it was to give the audience the feeling that duPont was encroaching on your privacy and personal space. It wasn’t explicit, so I didn’t have a problem with it. Then after reading 3 or 4 reviews interpreting it sexually, and jeopardizing my legacy, they need to have a press conference to clear the air, or I will.”

He then tweeted, “YOU CROSSED THE LINE MILLER. WE’RE DONE. YOU’RE CAREER IS OVER. YOU THINK I CAN’T DO IT. WATCH ME… YOU THINK I’M GOING TO SIT BACK AND WATCH YOU DESTROY MY NAME AND REPUTATION… YOU AINT’ SEEN NOTHING YET DUDE… I CAN TOLERATE A LOT OF THINGS BUT I DON’T TOLERATE DISRESPECT. WE’RE DONE BENNETT.”

Schultz added, “Everything I’ve ever said positive about the movie I take back. I hate it. i hate it. i hate it. I hate it. i hate it. i hate it. I hate it. I HATE BENNETT MILLER. I HATE EVERYTHING THAT SCUM TOUCHES. EVERYTHING!!!”

Just yesterday Schultz tweeted again saying that his Twitter rant may have been out of anger, but that he regrets nothing. Most of the tweets in question have since been deleted from Schultz’s account.

It’s a pretty drastic turn of events. One would think that Mark Schultz would have seen the film before the premiere, but perhaps he wasn’t aware of all the changes? Let us know your thoughts on the situation in our comment section below.

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