During the Martial Arts action movie craze of the 1980s and the 1990s, people couldn't get enough movies with people kicking and shooting each other. One of the most successful actors to come out of this craze was Steven Seagal. Seagal had been training in Aikido, A Japanese martial art somewhat similar to Judo with its main focus being on throws and using your attacker's momentum against them.
Steven likes to portray himself as a cool, calm and collected badass with the demeanour of a Japanese martial arts sensei that is completely untouchable and indestructible. This facade seemingly breaks down behind the scenes, however, as there are a ton of complaints against the actor - from him compulsively making up stories to make himself seem more interesting, to legitimate accusations of harassment, to shady dealings with foreign powers, there's a lot about of not so nice stuff about Seagal that you probably don't know.
20 He's lied about his race
Steven Seagal has taken many different cultural personas throughout his very long career. There was a time that he talked from the ghetto, but that somehow pales in comparison to his other appropriations. Seagal has stated that he comes from different backgrounds, such as pretending to be Italian, Japanese and Russian on separate occasions, when in fact he is of Irish and Jewish heritage.
19 His failed production company
Steven views himself as a renaissance man, so from 1994-2000, he owned a production company named Seagal/Nasso Productions, along with Julius R. Nasso. Later, when this company was dissolved, he joined with Bing Dang and Joe Halpin to form the new company Steamroller Productions.
18 His failed directorial debut
Like we mentioned in the last entry, Seagal wants to be known for more than just his action skills and his looks or at least that's what he says he wants. Seagal considered venturing into directing films and his first and only directorial attempt "On Deadly Ground" was a failure.
17 He Was Choked Out
Seagal has been training in Aikido since he was thirteen and while some would say that Aikido is no the most practical martial art, it has certainly made Seagal confident in himself. Gene Lebell, a Judo player, friend of Bruce Lee and one of the original founders of MMA, was challenged by Seagal, who said that he couldn't be choked out. Lebell took Seagal's challenge and put him in a hold, so then Seagal gave Lebell a low blow. It was ineffective at stopping Lebell who choked Seagal unconscious and also soiled himself.
16 The Way He Runs
This one is a little petty, OK, it's very petty but it's way too funny not to at least get a mention here. Seagal has been in a lot of action movies and in the actual action scenes, he usually does well due to his martial arts background. Where he struggles is in the transitions - when he is in an on-foot chase scene he runs in a way that doesn't match the macho image he portrays.
15 He Said He Fought The Yakuza
Now we are really going to get into some of the weird and downright untrue things that Steven Seagal has said over his long career. One of the more infamous ones is that he stated that while in Japan he had an all-out battle with the Yakuza with some help from the Irish mob.
14 He Said He Helped Train CIA Agents
Next in Steven's long history of fibs is the time he said he helped train CIA agents. Steven stated in some interviews that he trained CIA agents in hand to hand combat in order to fight terrorists and that he himself received CIA training and sometimes helped on field missions, but apparently when put into a CIA drill, he had no idea how to use a map and compass.
13 He Pretends To Be A Sword Expert
Steven loves all things Asian as you will be able to tell at the end of this list. This has caused Seagal to amass a large collection of East Asian swords. This apparently gives Steven the right to say that he is an expert on all swords and that he regularly gets called in to authenticate swords for auction houses, even if there is no evidence of that.
12 He Never Trained With Aikido's Founder
Steven's one true love in life is the martial art of Aikido. As mentioned in an earlier entry Seagal has been a practitioner of the art since he was 13 and has stated that he received a sponsorship to live and train in Japan with the art's founder, Morihei Ueshiba. The problem is that Ueshiba died in 1969 meaning that Seagal would have been a young teenager living alone in Japan, missing school in the process.
11 He Said He Speaks Four Languages
Going back to his cultural appropriation that was mention previously. Steven has stated in the past on separate occasions that he speaks Japanese, Russian and Italian, while there is no evidence that he speaks anything other than English. The only one that might be true is the Japanese, as he did go to Japan to train for a time, but there is no footage of him speaking the language.
10 He Assaulted John Leguizamo
Apparently Steven Seagal likes to make his presence known of the sets of films that he's on. On the set of the 1996 film Executive Decision, Steven Seagal announced that he was in charge of the set, this caused co-star John Leguizamo to roar our laughing, which apparently bothered Seagal enough to go up to the man and punch him in the chest.
9 His Strange Hairline
Once again we have another petty entry on our hands. Steven Seagal really cares about his appearance, referring to himself as a sex symbol on multiple occasions, this makes it somewhat more obvious that he is desperate to keep his hair. In some of his old movies, you can see the man's receding hairline, but now it appears full but also somehow painted on.
8 He Said He Wrote The Greatest Script Ever
So either Steven Seagal was just especially weird on set or that he is just weird all the time, call it a hunch but I think that it is the latter rather than the former. On set, Steven apparently went into his trailer for a long time and after he emerged stated "I've just read the greatest script ever written" when asked by a costar who wrote it Seagal replied "I did"
7 His Harassment History
On top of being a compulsive liar, Steven Seagal is also a confirmed creep in the Hollywood landscape. Seagal has been reported to have harassed fellow celebrities like Jenny McCarthy, who said that she was asked by Seagal to strip for a role. There was also a case where Seagal walked into a female costars trailer and watched her brush her teeth before making sexual innuendos to her.
6 His Human trafficking Charges
On April 12, 2010, 23-year-old Kayden Nguyen filed a lawsuit against Seagal in a Los Angeles County Superior Court, requesting more than one million dollars in damages. In her suit, Nguyen alleged Seagal engaged in sexual harassment, the illegal trafficking of females, two of which he was stated to keep on set for 'certain' favors. On July 14, 2010, three months after Nguyen filed her suit, she withdrew her claim without explanation.
5 What He Calls Female Reporters
Steven Seagal also does not like it when he gets interviewed by women. Seagal said that “Well, I found that interestingly enough, the few times that I had a hard time, it was usually with women,” and later following that up by saying that they are all “Bunch of f***ing dirty w*****!”
4 He Says He's Trained UFC Fighters
Somehow, Steven Seagal has got himself into the fight camps of many UFC fighters and regularly gets front row seats at big shows next to top-ranked fighters. Some of the fighters Steven has "worked" with have been Daniel Cormier and Anderson Silva, legendary names in the sport of MMA. He also stated that he taught a technique to Lyoto Machida that was used to knock out one of his opponents, despite there being footage of Lyoto using it far before he met Seagal.
3 His Relationship With Putin
Seagal was granted Russian citizenship in November 2016 after having many trips to Russia over the years and meeting with President Vladimir Putin. According to a government spokesman, "He was asking quite insistently and over a lengthy period to be granted citizenship."While various media have cited Seagal and President Putin as friends, Seagal even stating that he "would like to consider Putin as a brother", Putin has distanced himself from Seagal.
2 He's A lobbyist For A Russian Firearms Manufacturer
In 2013, Seagal joined newly formed Russian firearms manufacturer ORSIS, representing the company in a promotional capacity, as well as lobbying for the easement of US import restrictions on Russian sporting firearms. It was also announced he would work with the company to develop a signature long-range rifle known provisionally as "ORSIS by Steven Seagal".
1 He Cheated on His Wives
When Steven moved to Japan to teach Aikido he married his gyms lead instructor, Miyako Fujitani, the pair had two children together before Seagal moved to the back to the United States. During this time, he met actress and model Kelly LeBrock, with whom he began an affair that led to Fujitani granting him a divorce.