Val Kilmer labelled 'worst human being' by Conspiracy director

Conspiracy director Adam Marcus has branded Val Kilmer the "worst human being (he's) ever known".

Marcus, who worked with the late actor on the 2008 action thriller, called out the Top Gun star in a Threads post on Sunday.

Alongside a photo of himself and the actor, he wrote, "#MicroIntellectMonday to that time when I directed that guy. The guy who played Iceman and Doc Holiday (sic). You know the one. Here's me and the Putz working it out on the set of Conspiracy."

Marcus then quickly addressed anyone who might take issue with him speaking ill of the late actor, who died on 1 April 2025 at the age of 65. His cause of death was listed as pneumonia, with respiratory failure and tongue cancer listed as underlying causes.

"And to any of you rolling your eyes because of the whole 'don't speak ill of the dead bulls**t', f**k that," Marcus continued. "(If) this guy did one-tenth of what he did on my set today, he would have been cancelled in a blink."

He concluded, "Worst human being I've ever known... and that is really saying something."

Kilmer famously played Lt. Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky in Top Gun and Doc Holliday in Tombstone.

In Conspiracy, he portrayed a disabled Iraq War veteran who goes to visit an old friend in Arizona and discovers that he and his family are missing, and nobody will acknowledge their existence.

Marcus is not the first filmmaker to publicly speak about Kilmer being allegedly difficult to work with. Previously, Batman Forever director Joel Schumacher called him a "psychologically disturbed human being", while The Island of Dr. Moreau helmer John Frankenheimer declared that he would never work with him again.

Addressing his reputation in his 2021 documentary Val, Kilmer said, "I have behaved poorly. I have behaved bravely. I have behaved bizarrely to some. I deny none of this and have no regrets because I have lost and found parts of myself that I never knew existed."