Wesley Snipes responds to claims he's 'difficult' on set: 'I hear the rumors'

Wesley Snipes is not trying to relive the past, no matter how many journalists may try to revisit it for him.

"I've been past it," the "Coming 2 America" star told Entertainment Weekly during a recent interview. "Interviewers find interest in things that happened 10, 20 years ago. We're moving forward. We don't even think about that stuff anymore. The only ones who bring it up are journalists and people… what do they call them, trolls?"

One of those "things" brought up to the movie star was previous claims he was a diva on set.

"I hear the rumors where they say, 'Oh, he's difficult,'" Snipes, 59, said. "Difficult for what? Asking who? You could have asked Sean Connery, 'What was it like to work with Wesley Snipes?' Ask Robert De Niro. The list goes on. And they'll tell you the real deal. They don't talk to them. They talk to Canadian comedians!"

Although he's not Canadian, Snipes is referring to Patton Oswalt, who in a 2012 interview described Snipes' behavior while filming "Blade: Trinity" as "crazy in a hilarious way."

During an interview with TODAY last year, Snipes opened up about alleged drama that took place between him and Patrick Swayze behind the scenes of "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.“

"You had three alpha drag queens, so feathers and pillows flying everywhere,” Snipes said in 2020. “There were some things in the story that began to touch people. For Patrick, rest in peace, my beautiful brother... he started to get in touch with some things in terms of his relationship with his family and his history as a dancer that resonated very strongly with the script. So he started to take things way more seriously than I and Johnny Legs, you know? The frequency changed."

Related video: Wesley Snipes reveals if he would ever do stand-up comedy

When asked by EW why these claims were believed so easily by the public, Snipes quickly answered "because I'm Black."

"In America, Black guys are considered a threat," he added. "Dark-skinned Black guys are considered more of a threat. And you put the dark-skinned Black guy in action, people can't separate the two. A producer might say, 'What happens if Wesley gets upset? He's a martial artist, s-t, he might snap and kick my ass!'"

Another moment Snipes unwillingly has to revisit is his 28-month prison stint for his willful failure to file federal income tax returns. Since being released in 2013, Snipes said "many, many, many" of the acting opportunities that have been offered to him since all have one thing in common.

"I've got a stack that stands probably six feet of scripts that have to do with some kind of prison theme," Snipes told EW. "'He was a lawyer in prison.' 'They were a musical group who hit it big, but none of them ever got out of jail.' They even sent me a clown! The clown was a serial killer — but he used to be a lawyer! When they discover him, of course he's locked up. I said, 'What do they think, that I'm an expert on this?'"

Snipes is about to star opposite Kevin Hart in the upcoming limited series "True Story," out November 24 on Netflix.