Back in 2012, Patton Oswalt shared a series of wild claims about working with Wesley Snipes on the 2004 film Blade: Trinity. In an interview with the AV Club, and in subsequent interviews, the comedian alleged that Snipes attempted to strangle the film’s director, David Goyer, and, at one point during production, would only communicate with Goyer via Post-its, which he signed, “From Blade” each time. “Wesley was just fucking crazy in a hilarious way,” Oswalt said.
Eight years later, Snipes has weighed in on Oswalt’s claims after being asked about them point-blank in a new interview with The Guardian. “A reliable authority on me,” he said sarcastically of Oswalt. In short, Snipes added, Oswalt’s stories are just that—stories, none of which are to be believed.
“Let me tell you one thing. If I had tried to strangle David Goyer, you probably wouldn’t be talking to me now,” the actor said. “A Black guy with muscles strangling the director of a movie is going to jail, I guarantee you.”
He also denied the infamous Post-it story. “Once again, Mr. Oswalt is the authority. Hohoho! Why do people believe this guy’s version of this story? Answer me that.”
“This is part of the challenges that we as African Americans face here in America—these microaggressions. The presumption that one white guy can make a statement and that statement stands as true!” Snipes continued. “Why would people believe his version is true? Because they are predisposed to believing the Black guy is always the problem. And all it takes is one person, Mr. Oswalt, who I really don’t know. I can barely remember him on the set, but it’s fascinating that his statement alone was enough to make people go: ‘Yeah, you know Snipes has got a problem.’”
Snipes added that he was not only the star of Blade: Trinity, but its executive producer as well, with contractual director approval. “I was not just the actor for hire. I had au-thor-i-ty [The Guardian’s emphasis] to say, to dictate, to decide. This was a hard concept for a lot of people to wrap their heads around.”
Snipes briefly addressed Oswalt’s stories in a 2018 interview with Vice, simply claiming that what the comedian said was “false.” However, he did say back then that Post-it thing “may have happened.”
“I wouldn’t say it was frequent,” Snipes told the outlet. “Because our whole crew was banished to another side of the island of production. The only way we could sometimes get messages, since we didn’t have the radio, was to get it there by courier or pigeon sometimes.”
Oswalt’s stories about working with Snipes have, for years, been wrapped up in the lore of the film, the third in Marvel’s hit vampire franchise. Though the first two Blades were critically praised box office hits, the third was largely drubbed by critics. Aside from the Post-it anecdote and the strangling story, Oswalt also claimed that Snipes would not come out of his trailer, instead staying in and smoking weed all day. He had other clashes with Goyer as well, said Oswalt, to the point where Goyer hired bikers to come to set to pretend to be his security.
Goyer, for his part, said in 2016 that making Blade: Trinity was “the most personally and professionally difficult and painful thing I’ve ever been through.” He and Snipes never spoke again after that, he added.
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