Green Book Director Peter Farrelly Once Flashed Cameron Diaz as a Joke
[MUSIC] Life gets easier as you get older. It really does. It's really something to look forward to. [MUSIC] You're just gonna love getting older. It's a beautiful thing and there is over 30 million women between the ages Between 35 and 50 in America. That's a lot of voices. And, right now, those voices are saying that aging is bad, and aging is scary, and punishing themselves and the other women around them for getting older. I want to change those voices. The more of those voices that say it's okay and accept it and love themselves for doing it, The more accepting society will be of it and the world will change the way they see and view aging. And I hope that they can all sort of stand up for themselves and embrace it.
With an IMDb page that includes raunchy comedy There’s Something About Mary and the Gwyneth Paltrow-Jack Black flick Shallow Hal, it shouldn't come as a surprise that director Peter Farrelly — who just took home a Golden Globe for his comedy Green Book — has a certain sense of humor. But The Cut reports that he may have been taking things too far before he started to distance himself from lowbrow comedy. Thanks to a Newsweek feature dating back to 1998, everyone's remembering that his go-to joke used to be pulling out his penis for laughs. Seriously.
In the interviews, Cameron Diaz and Farrelly himself recount how he'd trick people into looking down at his genitals. Using his younger brother, Bobby, as an accomplice, Peter would convince people to look at a weird blotch on his skin or take a closer look at his watch. However, when the unsuspecting victim would lean in for a closer look, they'd see Peter's penis, instead.
Diaz said at the time, "When a director shows you his penis the first time you meet him, you've got to recognize the creative genius."
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It happened to Fox executive Tom Rothman, too. "I have been flashed," he said. "It wasn't a pretty sight. In fact, I'm still recovering."
An Observer article from 1998 added more details, saying that Peter would say that he'd gotten a new belt buckle to trick people into looking at his penis. He even said that the trick is what got Diaz to sign on to his project. He also admitted that he'd pulled the gag at least "500" times.
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The Cut adds that in both stories — the Observer article is only available on Nexis right now — the whole ordeal is treated like a joke or a prank instead of a serious act of sexual misconduct. Neither Diaz nor Farrelly has made any comments on the matter since the article was unearthed.
The news of Peter's bad behavior comes on the heels of not only his Golden Globe win, but also Bryan Singer's Bohemian Rhapsody. The biopic took home two awards, including Best Motion Picture - Drama. Singer has been embroiled in controversy over accusations of rape in 2017. He was also accused of assault in 2014, but continues to get work and receive accolades for his films.