Faye Dunaway Fired From Play After Allegedly Slapping Crew Members: Report

Oscar-winning actress Faye Dunaway was terminated from a Broadway-bound one-woman show after she allegedly slapped and verbally abused crew members, the New York Post reported, citing several unnamed sources.

Dunaway, 78, was playing Katharine Hepburn in “Tea at Five” in Boston, but the “hostile” and “dangerous” environment she generated left staff members in fear, according to the article published Wednesday by veteran Broadway reporter Michael Riedel.

― Dunaway “slapped and threw things at crew members” trying to put on her wig before a July 10 performance at the Huntington Theater, resulting in the show’s cancellation. She then “verbally abused” them after the announcement.

― She was up to two hours late to rehearsals, never learned her lines, and wouldn’t let the director or playwright look at her during rehearsals.

― She left “troubling, rambling, angry” voicemails to the creative team overnight and threw a salad onto the floor during a photo shoot, saying she was trying to watch her weight.

Producers said in a statement to The New York Times that Dunaway had been fired from the production, but didn’t reveal a reason.

“The producers of ‘Tea at Five’ announced today that they have terminated their relationship with Faye Dunaway,” the statement said. “Plans are in development for the play to have its West End debut early next year with a new actress to play the role of Katharine Hepburn.”

The Times reported that Dunaway’s “reputation has long been dogged by suggestions that she is difficult to work with.”

Dunaway, the “Bonnie and Clyde” star who won an Oscar for 1976′s “Network,” last appeared on Broadway in 1982.

The Post had yet to hear back from Dunaway’s attorney. HuffPost couldn’t immediately reach a rep for Dunaway.