It’s something of an unwritten rule in the larger entertainment industry to avoid criticizing those who recently passed away, regardless of how controversial their reputation might have been earlier in their lives.
Though most people tend to avoid speaking out against these controversial celebrities following their death, Val Kilmer‘s former director on 2008’s Conspiracy isn’t holding back in his outspoken dislike for the late Top Gunactor.
According to Entertainment Weekly, 58-year-old filmmaker Adam Marcus recently posted on social media about his view of Kilmer, most especially the difficulty he had working with the actor in the critically panned 2008 thriller.
“#MicroIntellectMonday to that time when I directed that guy. The guy who played Iceman and Doc Holiday. You know the one,” Marcus wrote on Threads. “Here’s me and the Putz working it out on the set of Conspiracy. So yeah, that happened.”
Perhaps anticipating some pushback from fans of Kilmer one year after his death from pneumonia, Marcus defended his comments by acknowledging the personal animosity he held for the actor all these years later.
“And to any of you rolling your eyes because of the whole ‘don’t speak ill of the dead bulls**t,’ f**k that,” Marcus bluntly said. “[If] this guy did one-tenth of what he did on my set today, he would have been cancelled in a blink.”
“Worst human being I’ve ever known… and that is really saying something,” the director finished by saying. Marcus went on to delete these posts shortly after making them public on Threads.
Throughout his career, Kilmer acquired a reputation for his difficult and demanding nature, something multiple directors and Kilmer himself acknowledged.
In the 2021 documentary Val, Kilmer specifically said, “I have behaved poorly. I have behaved bravely. I have behaved bizarrely to some.”
“I deny none of this and have no regrets because I have lost and found parts of myself that I never knew existed,” the Tombstone star continued. “And I am blessed.”
This story was originally published by Parade on Jun 2, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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