Random Wesley Snipes Has Proven To Be One Of Hollywood's Most Eccentric Stars (13 items)

(#6) He Was Busted For Carrying A Weapon In The '90s

In 1993, Snipes was cruising through the empty streets of Hollywood at 2 am when he crashed his motorcycle. Some bystanders helping him at the scene noticed a 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol hidden under his jacket, and they immediately snitched on him when the police arrived.

Snipes was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed weapon, but was released later that morning.
(#8) He's A Martial Arts Master

Did you know that Snipes is a fighting master with karate skills to rival those of Steven Seagal? Can you imagine the damage those two guys could do if they took on a whole Shaolin temple? Fighting Master praises his prowess:

Wesley Snipes is a seasoned, trained martial artist in a number of different disciplines including Karate, Kung Fu and Capoeira, an African/Brazilian martial art... Snipes doesn't have time for any pretty stuff. He prefers fast - strong, effective combinations.
(#13) He Believes He's The Reason 'Iron Man' Is So Good

Snipes has been in some big films, and he's worked with Robert Downey, Jr. But is Snipes the reason the Iron Man films are so popular? Probably not. Just don't tell Snipes that. He told The Telegraph about the day Downey called him to discuss taking the superhero role:

I remember he actually called me, but I didn’t return the phone call at the time. Robert was concerned before Iron Man and was trying to find out what it’s like to play this comic book character, because I had already done Blade. Not to say that... OK, I’ll take all the credit for his success as Iron Man.
(#4) He Acted As Michael Jackson's Bodyguard

Snipes wasn't professional muscle, but he served as M.J.'s bodyguard on the set of the video for "Bad." According to Snipes, Jackson was nervous while filming in Harlem because people wouldn't stop screaming at him:

Some of them loved him. Some of them hated him. So you hear them literally yelling out, "Michael Jackson! We love you! Oh my God - I want to have your baby." And you have other people going, "You ain't bleep! Michael Jackson, you ain't never coming back to the 'hood!"... So Michael turned to me and was like, "Are you scared?" I was like, "Yo, Mike, what are you talking about?" "Are you scared? Really, are you scared?" I was like, "No, Mike, this is Harlem, baby! This is where we grew up. They love you. Really, you're scared?" He was like, "A little."

Snipes said he loved the experience, and called Jackson "a wonderful talent."
(#2) He Might Have Choked A Director

Everything was crazy on the set of Blade: Trinity, and things apparently got so bananas that Snipes once tried to choke out the film's director, David S. Goyer.

Goyer told Uproxx, "That was the most personally and professionally difficult and painful thing I've ever been through," and said he's never spoken to Snipes again.
(#1) He Didn't Pay His Taxes For Three Years

Snipes refused to pay his taxes between 1999 and 2001, and in 2008 he was convicted of three misdemeanor counts of tax fraud and sentenced to spend three years at a McKean Federal Correctional Institution.

But that's not all. He didn't just refuse to pay his taxes; he also filed fraudulent tax forms with the IRS to recover some $11.3 million that he paid the government between 1996 and 1997.