There are rumors, then there are rumors – and Richard Gere is the subject of one of the wildest tales in the entertainment industry.
Somehow, it also pulled Sylvester Stallone into its orbit and continues to be a story that has everybody talking about it decades later.
In 1990, Pretty Woman turned into a massive movie around the world and raised Gere’s popularity among the general audience even further.
However, the actor had to contend with a fake press release that spread like wildfire.
It was so silly and blatantly untrue, but still found an audience.
This piece of “news” claimed that Gere had to go to a hospital to have a gerbil removed from his backside after having shoved it up there for pleasure.
Since then, Snopes confirmed this urban legend to be false, but it refused to ever go away.
It’s one of those tall tales that get passed around as fact, such as how Marilyn Manson had a rib removed for his own self-gratification and Britney Spears had to have her stomach pumped after consuming too much love potion.
In other words, these stories are completely false and unbelievable, but they’re juicy and sensational, so people choose to believe and tell others about them.
It gets crazier, though.
Before Gere had become a star, he worked with a pre-fame Sylvester Stallone on....
