Producer Joel Silver has been accused of being fired by Amazon Studios due to his verbal abuse of two of the company's female executives, Variety reported.

Silver's most recent credit has been 2018's Superfly, a remake of the 1972 blaxploitation film Super Fly. However, he produced some of the biggest Hollywood hits of the '80s and '90s such as the Lethal Weapon franchise, the first two films of the Die Hard and Predator series, as well as the Matrix movies.

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Silver also has a reputation for being a polarizing figure due to his temper. Tom Cruise's Les Grossman in 2008 was reportedly modeled after him.

However, sources close to Silver said that Amazon is retaliating against him after he called out the studio wanting to use AI to finish the projects he's involved with during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. In the midst of this, Silver's longtime friend Robert Downey Jr. exited one of said projects.

What isn't in dispute is that the producer has been taken off his producing duties on the remake of the 1989 film Road House, led by Jake Gyllenhaal. The film was nearly complete when the actors' strike started in July. Silver was also the producer of the original film for United Artists.

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The other project that Silver is no longer producing is Play Dirt, a Mark Wahlberg movie meant to be the first film adapted from the Parker crime books written by Richard Stark, a pseudonym. Sources from Amazon said that the producer “fulfilled his obligations on ‘Road House' and he will not be working on Play Dirty.”

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Private investigator and Hollywood fixer Anthony Pellicano, a longtime associate of the Silver's, stated, “The parting of the ways is amicable. He was not fired. There were just disagreements with creative concerns.”

Silver's lawyer Bryan Freedman also said, “As Amazon readily admits, Joel Silver completed all of his services on Road House and was not relieved of his duties, terminated or fired from his services on Road House. He finished the film and did an excellent job.”

“With respect to ‘Play Dirty,’ as agreed to by Amazon, Joel was in no way terminated with or for cause on that picture. None of this is in dispute. To say he was fired is irresponsible and defamatory,” he continued.

The two executives allegedly involved were Sue Kroll, Amazon Studios and MGM marketing head, and Courtenay Valenti, Amazon's film head. Sources stated that Silver berated staffers which included the two executives over their visions for his films. Both Kroll and Valenti have worked with the producers for decades.

Silver was reportedly angry about the release strategy for Road House. The producer allegedly wanted a theatrical release while the Amazon executives wanted to release it as a streaming title under Amazon, most likely on Prime Video. Silver expected to still receive a producing credit because he completed the film, but would not be involved with the film's marketing or distribution.