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A year after Val Kilmer died, his former Conspiracy director Adam Marcus detailed their strained working relationship, saying he was the “worst human being.”
By Olivia Evans Jun 02, 2026 7:21 PM | Updated 5 minutes ago
Tom Cruise Honors “Dear Friend” and 'Top Gun' Costar Val Kilmer
For a former colleague of Val Kilmer, the gloves are off.
A year after the Top Gun actor died at the age of 65, director Adam Marcus—who worked with him on the film Conspiracy—shared a scathing message about their time working together.
“#MicrointellectMonday to that time when I directed that guy,” Marcus wrote in a June 1 Facebook post. “The guy who played Iceman and Doc Holliday. You know the one.”
Alongside a photo of the duo working on the set of the 2008 thriller, Adam added, “So yeah, that happened.”
The director—who also has writing credits on Texas Chainsaw and Secret Santa—went on to allege the Tombstone star had a poor attitude while filming their movie in the late aughts.
“To any of you rolling your eyes because of the whole ‘don’t speak ill of the dead bulls--t,’ f--k that,” Marcus continued. “He was physically violent (kicked me in my crotch on set on day 6 because I would not look at his new Crocs), sexually harassed my female cast, was verbally abusive.”
Marcus further alleged Kilmer was “on ‘something’” everyday of shooting and was always at least three hours late to set.
“He was so alcohol poisoned on the first day of production I had to have an ambulance come to set to give him an IV before we could get one shot done,” Marcus continued. “He was paid 1.5 million and acted completely unprofessional. And this is truly the tip of the iceberg of bad behavior. 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.”
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
E! News reached out to reps for Kilmer’s estate regarding Marcus’ comments but has not heard back.
While Marcus does not have fond memories of Kilmer, other stars who worked closely with him praised Kilmer’s legacy after his death in April 2025.
“I can’t tell you how much I admire his work,” Tom Cruise said during a tribute to Kilmer at CinemaCon 2025 days after his death. “How grateful and honored I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.”
Asking for a brief moment of silence in honor of Kilmer, Cruise added, “He loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us.”
Cruise emphasized that he considered Kilmer a modern Irving Thalberg, who was a pioneer for early motion pictures.
“This man forged through it all and was able to create epic adventures for global audiences,” Cruise added. “You are an artist for all time. You are our modern-day Thalberg.”
For a look back at Kilmer’s life in photos, keep reading…
Barry King/WireImage
1983
Paramount/Kobal
1986
CBS via Getty Images
1986
Lucasfilm/Kobal
1988
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
1988
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
1994
Warner Bros. Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images
1995
Warner Bros. Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images
1995
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc
1995
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
1997
Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
2002
L. Cohen/WireImage
2004
Donato Sardella/WireImage
2006
Dale Wilcox/WireImage
2008
Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic
2012
Noel Vasquez/GC Images
2015
Michael Tullberg/Getty Images
2019
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