Jonah Hill Reveals Shocking Director Behind Hollywood Exit

Her statements echoed a 2013 interview Russell gave to the New York Times, in which he said that he and Tomlin 'love each other' and 'would work together tomorrow.'

In 2013, Russell described the majority of the I Heart Huckabees shoot as a 'one big party' while speaking with IndieWire, with the exception of his infamous on-camera fights.

'The party just went right on past that day, but then that was the day that got remembered,' Russell claimed. 'I became a better filmmaker because of it, but it was painful. It was six years of losing my way a little bit.'

While appearing on Smartless, Hill admitted that he saw another alleged blowout on set that involved Russell.

'Everyone’s screaming at each other,' he recalled. 'The first time I walked on set, [Russell] and K.K. Barrett, the production designer, were joking around, wrestling, and then it turned into a real fight. It was like joking that turned into a fight.

'They were setting up my first scene to act, and I was like, "Hollywood is so tight! This is so cool,"' Hill joked.

But the alleged fight stayed with him, and the Superbad star said he promised Barrett that if he ever directed his own film, he would hire him as its production designer while trying to make a better example than was set on I Heart Huckabees.

'He did my newest movie,' Hill revealed. 'Full circle, 20 years later. The greatest production designer ever.'

Russell has also been accused of making Amy Adams's life 'a living hell' on the set of American Hustle in 2013, to the point that her costar Christian Bale – who is working with Russell on his upcoming biopic Madden – allegedly intervened. Adams later confirmed the conflicts with Russell in a 2016 British GQ interview.

'He was hard on me, that's for sure. It was a lot ... I was really just devastated on set,' she said. 

Russell has also stirred up controversy away from film sets. 

In 2011, his 19-year-old niece, who is transgender, accused Russell of sexually assaulting her. 

She filed a police report in which she alleged that Russell had asked her about how she had grown breasts via hormone replacement therapy, before he put his hand under her shirt and felt up her breasts. 

Russell admitted to touching his niece's breasts, though he claimed that he had done so because she urged him to. Police later closed the case due to a lack of witnesses.

More recently, Russell was reported to have allegedly punched Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group President Sanford Panitch in the stomach at Chanel's 2024 Oscars afterparty, according to Puck. 

Russell allegedly lashed out at Panitch after the executive accidentally tripped over the director's leg. 

In the same podcast interview, Hill explained why he and his wife, Olivia Millar, are raising their two children in San Diego.

'I wanted to leave LA and raise a family outside of Los Angeles,' the star, who recently, explained.

Hill said he left his hometown three years ago to live in 'a very small town' with 'incredible' neighbors, according to an account from People.

'They never treat me weird or ask me about my job or anything,' the actor effused. 'And my neighbor is one of my great friends, Dr. Sean... he's here tonight. He never bothered me or was like, "Oh, what's this person like?"'

He also gave a shoutout to his wife, who was in the audience, and described her as 'my best friend.' 

'Shout out to my beautiful wife, Liv. Where is she? Oh, what’s up, baby?' the screenwriter said while on stage at the Avalon Hollywood.

He also opened up about his Los Angeles upbringing to hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett.

'I grew up here. LA was such a cool place to grow up in the ’90s because you could go skateboard downtown or you could sneak into a movie premiere or you could go sneak into a comedy club and see Chris Rock or something,' he reflected.

The Superbad star added, 'You had access to show business stuff, but you had access to punk and skating and graffiti and all the naughty stuff. And there was no internet. It was just so awesome.'