Hollywood muscleman Sylvester Stallone was charged in an Australian court on Tuesday with carrying banned bodybuilding drugs used to disguise the ravages of age.
SYDNEY: Hollywood muscleman Sylvester Stallone was charged in an Australian court on Tuesday with carrying banned bodybuilding drugs used to disguise the ravages of age.
The 60-year-old Rocky and Rambo star was absent when the Australian Customs Service accused him of trying to bring 48 vials of human growth hormone into the country during a visit last month.
The key ingredient in the drugs was somatropin, advertised on the Internet as enhancing sexual performance, reducing body fat, removing wrinkles, boosting muscle mass and for the "re-generation of major organs that shrink with age."
Stallone was in Australia to promote Rocky Balboa, the latest installment in his series about a Philadelphia boxer.
The maximum penalty for the offence is $110,000 (Australian), but if found guilty Stallone would face a maximum fine of $22,000 because the charge is being dealt with in a local court.
Customs officers said in documents presented to Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court that they found five boxes of the growth hormone Jintropin in Stallone's luggage when he arrived from the United States on February 16.
It is alleged that Stallone ticked the "no" box on the Customs form when asked to declare whether he was bringing in restricted or prohibited goods "such as medicines, steroids, firearms or any kind of illicit drugs".
Australian laws prohibit the import of natural and manufactured growth hormones without a permit.
Magistrate David Heilern adjourned the case for a plea on April 24. Stallone will be excused from attending court if he is represented by his lawyer, Robert Todd.
Court documents said Jintropin, whose active ingredient is somatropin, is a human growth hormone, is not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, and is not a recognised treatment for any medical condition.
After being intercepted at the airport, the actor-director insisted the items seized by customs were not steroids, telling reporters: "It's something that I've taken for years" and "it's not dangerous."
The first installment of Stallone's Rocky series was a monster hit in 1976, winning best picture and director Oscar honours and establishing a franchise that would go on to gross nearly $450 million.
But four sequels and 14 years later, Rocky looked to be at the end of the road, with the 1990's Rocky V earning only $41 million.
The ageing Stallone staged yet another comeback, pulling on the gloves once more for Rocky Balboa, which has the boxer coming out of retirement to fight the reigning heavyweight champion in a one-off exhibition bout.
Movie industry experts questioned whether the ageing actor's ring return was stretching credibility too far, even by Hollywood's elastic standards.
"Stallone can still take off his shirt without shame, he's buff. But it goes so far beyond credibility that there might be a problem," said UCLA film department professor Howard Suber.
Stallone, however, did not attempt to sidestep the issue of his advanced years during publicity for the film, calling the movie a bruising statement against "ageism".
"Just because people get older doesn't mean they abandon their dream or their ability to want to do something, so Rocky is symbolic of still wanting to participate," Stallone told reporters in Los Angeles.
"I want to show that life is not over at 50. People say, 'Come on, grow old gracefully.' No, why? I'm not ready."
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