It's relatively well-known that Steven Seagal isn't the most morally sound celebrity — but
was he really responsible for the death of a puppy and over a hundred roosters in an
Arizona SWAT raid? Keep watching to find out the bizarre details.
Seagal became a full-fledged Russian citizen in November 2016 following
years of hard lobbying. According to the state-owned Sputnik News:
"The actor had been applying for the citizenship for a while
and was famous for his warm feelings toward Russia."
Since his citizenship, Seagal has thrown his all into his adopted homeland. He became a member of
the pro-Kremlin party, "A Just Russia — For Truth" in 2021, and is an outspoken supporter of Russia's
stance on Crimea and Ukraine. Besides that, he brings up Vladimir Putin at every opportunity.
Seagal once praised Putin as being, quote, "one of the greatest living world leaders"
and said he likes to think of him as "a brother." Sadly for Seagal,
the bromance seems more than a little one-sided. A Putin spokesperson told BuzzFeed News:
"I wouldn't necessarily say he's a huge fan. But he's definitely seen some of his movies."
Sexual assault, harassment, and rape allegations have plagued Steven Seagal over the decades.
Multiple women, including Jenny McCarthy, Portia de Rossi, and ​​Julianna Margulies,
have made accusations. Margulies told Katie Couric about an alleged
"rehearsal" involving Seagal and a gun in a hotel room. De Rossi admitted fleeing
an "audition" after Segal allegedly, quote, "unzipped his leather pants."
Jenny McCarthy told Movieline about a supposed "Under Siege 2" casting call
that involved just Seagal and a shag carpet. She claimed he was focused on her Playboy past,
not her acting skills. Seagal allegedly ordered McCarthy to undress because the movie involved
nudity. A tearful McCarthy pointed out that the script included zero nakedness.
Seagal purportedly grabbed her, demanding that she never tell anybody about their interaction.
Rachel Grant accused Seagal of sexual assault. Two ex-personal assistants
accused him of sexual harassment, as well as four former Warner Brothers
employees. Lisa Guerrero claimed of her experience with the action star:
"In my case, I was Harvey Weinsteined by Steven Seagal."
Rae Dawn Chong made similar claims. Cheryl Shuman sued for sexual harassment and
assault and battery. Regina Simons alleged Seagal raped her when she was 18-years old,
and Faviola Dadis accused him of sexual harassment. Meanwhile, Seagal's lawyer vehemently
denied every single accusation made against his client and refuted all claims of any wrongdoing.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault,
help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network
website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Steven Seagal always likes to be the in-control alpha male in the room — so,
it's no surprise he's been accused of attacking and intimidating cast and crew on film sets.
John Leguizamo told "Q TV" that Seagal shoved him up against a wall during the
filming of "Executive Decision." Leguizamo said it all kicked off after he chucked at
a decree Seagal issued upon arriving at rehearsal one day. Leguizamo explained:
"He comes in [and says], 'I'm in command. What I say is law.'"
"Exit Wounds" stunt coordinator, Steven Quadros, alleged Seagal repeatedly attempted to "square
up" to him when he tried to introduce himself. Quadros claimed to AD Combat:
"He had that 'look' in his eyes as he squared up with me again."
Getting weirder still, Sean Connery claimed that Seagal intentionally
broke his wrist while working as a fight coordinator on the "Never Say
Never Again" James Bond flick. Connery explained to Jay Leno:
"I got a little cocky because I thought I knew what I was doing. Because the principal [of
aikido], it's defense. Then I got a bit flash, and I [held up my arm], and he broke my wrist."
Steven Seagal landed in hot water while filming his show "Steven Seagal:
Lawman." The actor may have had good intentions when he conducted a raid
on a suspected cockfighter's home, but it was ludicrously heavy-handed,
to say the least. Seagal rammed the tank through the front gate of the home,
accompanied by other armed vehicles, a bomb robot, and a heavily armed SWAT team. A PETA post read:
"Steven Seagal does not take kindly to cruelty to animals and was more than happy to help his pal,
Maricopa County Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio — himself an outspoken cruelty-to-animals
foe — who was serving a search warrant for [Jesus Sanchez Llovera's] home.
Seagal and Sheriff Arpaio found 130 roosters and cockfighting paraphernalia."
However, the animal rights activist group failed to mention that authorities
allegedly killed over 100 animals during the incident. As per TMZ,
the raid resulted in Seagal and Arpaio being issued with a notice of claim.
In the claim — which precedes a lawsuit filing — Llovera insisted that the raid was "unfounded"
because his roosters were raised "for show" purposes only. Llovera also alleged his kids'
puppy was shot dead by officers, in addition to over 100 roosters being exterminated.
Steven Seagal is a contradiction. On one hand, he's a devout Buddhist who likes to wax on,
wax off about non-violence. On the other,
he's a weapons and arms trade lover, promoter, and lobbyist.
"Let me see if I can start to get good here. Imma aim for the match now."
As per Talking Points Memo, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin pushed hard for Seagal to become,
quote, "the face of Russia's weapons industry." According to The Moscow Times, Russian firearms
manufacturer ORSIS employed Seagal to promote and lobby in the USA on their behalf in 2013.
Seagal also promoted the warlord weapon of choice, the Kalashnikov — up until 2014.
The Izvestia newspaper alleged Seagal was nixed from being a "brand ambassador" for the rifle
makers because of the ever-escalating, quote, "tensions between the U.S. and
Russia over Ukraine." Kalashnikov denied the claims in a statement, insisting:
"The U.S. sanctions have in no way influenced our decision to cooperate with Steven Seagal."
In addition, according to The National News, Seagal is "brand ambassador" for
UAE-based armored vehicle manufacturers, The Streit Group. Segal said in 2021:
"I'm interested in weapons, military history, tanks, and armored cars, and I'd heard about
Streit; I was very impressed. [These] armored vehicles are probably the best in the world."
Streit has been accused of selling vehicles to US gang members,
as well as war-torn countries such as South Sudan and Libya, according to CBC.
Steven Seagal's marital history reads like a horror movie script. He met his first wife,
Miyako Fujitani, at LAX in 1974, and it wasn't love at first sight — well,
for Fujitani anyway. She told Aikido Today Magazine:
"When I met Steve, he had long hair, and he was very tall and skinny. I
hate that type — skinny with long hair. I was frightened: he looked like a Japanese ghost!"
Still, the couple married and had two children.
But the fairytale ended after Seagal returned to the US to further his career.
According to Spy Magazine, before Seagal left Japan, he vowed to Fujitani:
"I will never betray you."
So, it must have come as a shock when he married his second wife, Adrienne La Russa, in May 1984 —
especially since he wasn't divorced from Fujitani until 1987. As per US Weekly, Seagal then cheated
on La Russa with Kelly LeBrock, whom he eventually married and had three kids with. They divorced
in 1996 after she discovered Seagal had been having an affair with their nanny, Arissa Wolf.
Seagal and Wolf didn't marry, but they did have a child together — a daughter named Savannah.
As per HollywoodMask, Seagal met his fourth wife, Elle Batsukh,
in 2001. They welcomed their son, Kunzang, in 2009.
During a 2003 mob-related extortion trial, the defense team's strategy
was to paint Steven Seagal as, quote, "a pathological liar,"
according to the Los Angeles Times. One possible tall tale is Seagal's claim of
working with the Central Intelligence Agency while living in Japan. He told the publication:
"[You] could say that I became an adviser to several CIA agents in the field and,
through my friends in the CIA, met many powerful people and did special works and special favors."
Seagal alleged that he helped the Shah of Iran flee the country following the 1979 revolution.
He also alleged to have carried out "security work" for President Anwar
Sadat and Bishop Desmond Tutu. Seagal admitted:
"I'd be very happy if nobody believes me. I don't
think you can find anyone in the agency who can prove they work for the agency."
One person who doesn't believe Seagal is Gary Goldman. According to Spy Magazine,
Seagal boasted to the former mercenary about having been a Navy SEAL. Goldman says he stopped
believing Seagal's SEAL story when the actor freaked out after encountering choppy waters
while on a Zodiac raft. Goldman also claimed Seagal couldn't read a map or compass. The duo
had been working on a screenplay together before fighting over money and writing credits.
Spy alleged that Goldman fired off a letter to the Los Angeles Times as retribution,
calling Seagal's claims of working in the intelligence world a fable.
Steven Seagal alleges to have helped clean up the mean streets of Tokyo
during his time living in Japan in the late 1970s with his first wife, Miyako Fujitani.
Seagal claims that he battled with the Yakuza — the notorious Japanese organized crime
syndicate — in addition to a random assortment of other criminal low-lifes. He boasted to Movieline:
"I jumped right in their faces [...] I was fearless."
However, Fujitani shot Seagal's claims down in flames. She insisted in an interview with Spy:
"It is a lie. He once chased some drunks away from the dojo but never was involved with the Yakuza."
Coincidentally, Seagal plays a CIA operative who travels to Japan to investigate — and battle with
— the Yakuza following the murder of a government official in the 2005 action flick "Into the Sun".
According to the New York Post, former CIA officer Herbert Saunders claimed Seagal
has a questionable relationship with the truth. Saunders testified during the 2003
trial of Gambino mobsters charged with attempting to extort Seagal:
"I don't think he's able to sort out fantasy from fact. I think he
sees himself in roles he's played in movies, ranging from hard-nosed,
tough cop to guy who's saving mongooses in the woods of Oregon."
Steven Seagal has serious issues when it comes to female journalists. In 2017,
the Daily Mail obtained audio from a 1998 "Above the Law" promo interview between the actor and a
male reporter. After claiming that females always quiz him about his sex life, Seagal admitted:
"The few times that I had a hard time [in interviews],
it was usually with women. They should go into pornography or
something else instead of journalism if they want to hear that s---."
Anita Busch allegedly experienced Seagal's wrath while investigating him for the Los
Angeles Times in 2002. According to an FBI affidavit, the veteran journalist,
"found a bullet hole in the windshield of her car.
Nearby were a dead fish, a rose, and a note warning: 'Stop.'"
A female freelancer wrote about a hellish meeting with Seagal for The Guardian. Cassie Lane claimed
he arrived with, quote, "eight buxom blonde[s]" and was "spellbound by the cleavage" all night.
Then, as per the Independent, in 2018, Seagal stormed out of an interview with BBC reporter
Kirsty Wark after she asked about the multiple sexual misconduct allegations made against him.
"When the knives come out…"
"No words need to be spoken."
Steven Seagal claims to be a devout Buddhist — despite multiple allegations of sexual
assault and misconduct, bragging about conducting CIA special ops,
and a die-hard love of all things weapons-related. Seagal told Forbes:
"I'm a Buddhist. I have a relationship with all sentient beings, and I try to
do all that I can to protect them. Even if it is only a small difference that I can make,
I would sacrifice myself in a heartbeat for another."
Seagal was recognized as a reincarnation of the 17th-century Lama Terton Chungdrag Dorje.
In 1997, Tibetan leader Penor Rinpoche honored the
actor in a ceremony at an Indian monastery. As per The Guardian:
"In the Buddhist hierarchy, [Lama Seagal] is just a notch down from the Dalai Lama himself."
But, how it went down is a little murky. Seagal claimed during a retreat:
"I was in a monastery in Kyoto, and met some monks from Tibet who had been tortured by the
Chinese. As I was the only one who had studied herbology, bone manipulation,
and acupuncture, I treated them, and there was an immediate connection."
However, there's speculation that Seagal's reincarnation recognition may stem from him having
donated a boatload of money to one of Rinpoche's schools. A Buddhist newsgroup member wrote:
"Recognizing a tulku, especially when it is an American person with lots of fame and fortune, is like buying a stock option."
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available.
Visit the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network website, or contact RAINN's national helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE, that's 1-800-656-4673