In the early 2000s, Hunter S. Thompson found himself sitting in a bar in Woody Creek, Colorado, awaiting a late-night meeting with the infamous writer. As he nervously sipped his whisky, the locals were completely oblivious to the fact that a Hollywood star was in their midst. At that moment, no one could predict the chaos that was about to unfold, courtesy of Thompson himself.
Known for his wild energy, Thompson stormed into the bar, sparking a frenzy of startled patrons. Clutching a cattle prod in one hand and a taser gun in the other, he strode confidently toward Depp, the chaos in his wake symbolizing the pure, untamed force that defined his existence. It was a display that no one could forget.
This chaotic scene contrasts sharply with the far more subdued confrontation between Lou Reed and Thompson that would follow. Both icons of counterculture, their explosive personalities made for an inevitable clash. Reed, the mastermind behind The Velvet Underground and an unapologetic iconoclast, had no patience for the mainstream.
He famously dismissed The Beatles as “a load of shit,” making it clear he was a man who rejected societal norms. But his feud with Thompson wasn’t the result of creative differences—it stemmed from a simple misunderstanding, one that could have been avoided with a little more patience.
In the late ’90s, Reed and Thompson shared mutual respect. Thompson was a huge fan of Reed’s hit song “Walk on the Wild Side,” and the two were friendly, even collaborating at one point. But things took a dramatic turn when Wayne Ewing, a filmmaker, contacted Reed about using the song in his movie Breakfast with Hunter. The request was met with a terse response: “Never call about Hunter Thompson ever again.”
The roots of this break can be traced back to 2000, when Thompson was on a book tour promoting Fear and Loathing in America. Thompson, suffering from severe back pain, developed a profound dislike for stairs. After a book signing in Manhattan, he was supposed to meet Reed at a restaurant, but when Thompson’s assistant discovered the venue had stairs, it became an impasse. Thompson, unable to face the climb, decided to stand Reed up and dine with Johnny Depp and Demi Moore instead.
As it turned out, Thompson had a lucky break that night. Depp convinced Moore to lend Thompson her private jet, which would get him to Washington, D.C., without having to face the daunting challenges of traveling by car.
Meanwhile, Reed waited in vain at the top of the restaurant stairs, growing more frustrated with each passing moment. Thompson’s decision to skip the meeting—and his subsequent refusal to pay for the jet’s fuel—sealed the fate of their relationship. As Thompson later remarked, “Something happened in New York on the last trip… He felt insulted, I guess he’s easily offended.”
The fallout from that night ended any hope of a lasting friendship between the two, with Thompson and Reed never speaking again. What seemed like a minor incident—an aversion to stairs—ended up creating one of the most bizarre feuds in rock and literary history.
