Former NY Ranger Sean Avery had a Shia LaBeouf-style meltdown on the set of his off-Broadway play “Negative Is Positive” and quit two days before it was due to open, after a stage manager politely offered him pizza.
“He’s a playwright’s worst nightmare,” said “Negative” author Christy Smith-Sloman.
The show, which opens at Theater for the New City on Thursday, centers on an interracial married couple, and Avery was to play the lead character’s best friend.
On Monday, Avery left rehearsals early after growing agitated. On Tuesday, Avery’s behavior grew worse. According to Smith-Sloman, when a young assistant stage manager named Natalie asked the athlete-turned-actor if he wanted a slice of pizza, he said no, but somehow thought the assistant had called him an “a–hole.”
“He said I was ‘talking s–t’ and said I was ‘so full of s–t,'” Natalie, who was left in tears, told us. “That’s when I realized that I was dealing with a madman.”
Next, director Andreas Robertz said Avery told him, “Don’t you know who I am?!” and stormed out. “I think something snapped in him,” said Robertz.
“It’s a complete horror story … Avery had a complete meltdown in rehearsals and quit. He pretty much snapped,” Smith-Sloman told Page Six.
The playwright said she does not want hot-tempered Avery back. “It’s unbelievable he would do this two days before we open. At this point I don’t want him to be a part of this production. He can’t call people pieces of s–t and say, ‘Do you know who I am?’ [He] can’t threaten people.”
An understudy will replace Avery, who didn’t return our calls for comment.