Sylvester Stallone's Son Sage Found Dead

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright July 17, 2012
All Rights Reserved.                                         

                Found dead July 13 in his Studio City, Calif. apartment, 36-year-old son—Sage Moonblood Stallone—of 66-year-old actor/director/writer Sylvester “Sly” Stallone opens another Hollywood unsolved mystery, prompting speculation about his death.  Saying he was “devastated and grief stricken,” Sylvester asked the public to “respect my talented son’s memory and feel compassion for his loving, mother Sasha,” Stallone’s first wife actress Sasha Czack.  While Los Angeles Police Department detectives said there are no signs of foul play, the Los Angeles County Coroner completed its autopsy of Sage Sunday, indicating the results would not be available for months. When you consider blood work is typically available within 24 hours, it’s unknown why the coroner waits to rule out a drug overdose.  LAPD detectives confirmed the presence of prescription drug bottles at Sage’s apartment.

            Without any known medical problems, it’s automatic to suspect drug overdose in otherwise healthy adults.  “We don’t know what circumstances are around it,” said Sage’s long-time attorney George Braunstein, refusing to rule out foul play or any other cause of death.  “He was in good health, great spirits.  He was thinking of getting married, working on a lot of film projects,” said Braunstein, leaving the door open to much speculation.  Living in an apartment in Studio City suggests some degree of estrangement from his multimillionaire father, whose lavish lifestyle has kept the Los Angeles paparazzi busy since the first “Rocky” movie hit the limelight in 1976. Today, there’s been six installments of the “Rocky” franchise netting a worldwide box office of over $1.1 billion.  Sage’s residence in a modest Studio City apartment suggests some kind of family estrangement.

            Posting messages on his Facebook page last Friday, Sylvester’s 18-year-old  nephew Edd Filiti aired some of the Stallone family’s dirty laundry, commenting about Sage’s estrangement from his famous father.  “What did he do wrong, say happy birthday,” said Filiti’s Facebook post, referring to Sage’s attempt to say happy birthday to his father on his July 6 birthday.  “Neither you [Stallone’s wife Jennifer Flavin] nor he could return a phone call, which is all he wanted, his father.  I know you don’t care what happened , but you’ll care when your [sic] squirming under the burning magnifying glass of public opinion,” said Filiti, blaming Stallone and Flavin for Sage’s stinging rejection.  While Filiti’s post was immediately removed from Facebook, he also blamed Stallone’s wife since 1997—ex-supermodel Jennifer Flavin—for tearing the family apart, perhaps adding to Sage’s alienation.

            Piecing together post-mortem psychological autopsies is never easy.  Filiti’s Facebook post gives a revealing picture into the motives behind a possible suicide.  It’s not uncommon for family and business associates to report exactly the opposite of the truth behind the deceased’s state-of-mind.  Revealing troubled family relations doesn’t fit with Hollywood happy faces that seek to gloss over marital or family problems, sometimes leading to embarrassing episodes.  Sage’s death reflects directly on Stallone’s image as a father, or, more importantly, as a human being.  Filiti’s Facebook post gives a very different picture from the one Stallone’s publicist presents to the public and news media.  “I’m devastated.  He’s an extremely bright, creative person,” Braunstein told ABC News, revealing his unexpected reaction.  Stallone told TMZ about his son’s death, “there’s no greater pain.”

            When Filiti’s Facebook post disappeared soon after it appeared last Friday, it looked like an attempt at damage control.  “I made a mistake,” Filiti told the New York Post.  “It is a very emotional time and I vented my feelings.  I was feeling raw and emotional and I never meant to insult my uncle.  I have my own issues with him, but that should never be said on Facebook.  I want to recant my words,” said Filiti, trying to put the genie back in the bottle.  For those seeking the truth, Filiti never recanted on his statements, only expressing regrets that his posts embarrassed Uncle Sylvester.  “This agonizing loss will be felt for the rest of our lives,” Sylvester told TMZ.  “Sage was our first born and the center of our universe and I am humbly begging for all to have my son’s memory and soul left in peace,” asking the press to back off, something that only encourages more scrutiny.

            Sage’s untimely death reveals what most families want to keep hidden from public view: The troubled relationships all too common in celebrity families.  If there’s any truth to Filiti’s Facebook posts, it suggests Sage felt alienated from his celebrity father and his rejecting stepmother.  While no one knows anything for sure, healthy 36-year-olds don’t suddenly die from inexplicable medical causes.  Even when 50-year-old pop singing legend Michael Jackson was found dead at his Holmby Hills home June 15, 2009, it took months for the coroner to pronounce the cause of death a drug overdose.  Initial reports speculated about “heart failure.”  Even with all of Jackson’s medical problems, a drug overdose was the logical explanation.  When the dust settles with Sage, it’s equally likely that he expired from a drug overdose.  If there’s any truth of Filiti’s posts, the 36-year-old probably suffered from depression or other mental problems associated with troubled family relations.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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