Sylvester Stallone was recently spotted using a cane at the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C.

The iconic actor, best known for his role in Rocky, walked the event’s glamorous red carpet on Sunday, December 7. Accompanied by his wife, Jennifer Flavin Stallone, the 79-year-old leaned on the cane while posing for photographs alongside Jennifer, 57, and mingling with other guests at the prestigious gathering.

Us Weekly has reached out to Stallone’s representatives for a comment regarding the actor’s use of the walking aid.

During the evening, Stallone was honored as one of the distinguished recipients at the Kennedy Center Opera House ceremony.

A true cinematic icon, Sylvester Stallone has become synonymous with blockbuster franchises like Rocky and Rambo. Originating from New York, his acting career almost stalled before a pivotal role in 1974’s The Lords of Flatbush reignited his path. Two years later, the release of the first Rocky film catapulted Stallone to stardom, marking a turning point in his professional journey. […]

The red carpet sighting comes several months after Sylvester said during an interview for his reality TV show, The Family Stallone, that he has “never recovered” from injuries sustained while making action films. “I did stupid stuff,” he said during a February episode of season 2. “I was directing Expendables and, like an idiot, I’m doing take 10, take whatever, and I remember one slam and I could actually feel one bang… I never recovered from [Expendables]. After that film, it was never physically the same.”

The actor also warned others at the time, “Don’t do your own stunts.”

The episode also noted that a metal plate was inserted into Sylvester’s neck “to repair the damage” done due to the Expendables “slam.” As a result, Sylvester underwent “spinal fusion surgery” to limit movement between his bones.

It’s over for Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin after three decades together. Stallone and Flavin met in 1988. The Rocky star was previously married twice — to Sasha Czack from 1974 to 1985 and Brigitte Nielsen from 1985 to 1987 — before he started dating the model. (He shares sons Sage and Seargeoh with his […]

Jennifer was also interviewed during the episode, recalling her husband’s surgery as a “scary time” for the Stallone clan. “He doesn’t like people to know he’s had so many back surgeries,” she said. “It’s very scary for our family every time Sly has to go through surgery, because you never know . . . no one knows. I hope this is the one to help him live a more comfortable life.”

In July, Sylvester opened up about yet another famed action hero: his late friend, Hulk Hogan. Speaking to TMZ on July 25, Sylvester said Hogan, who died at the age of 71 after suffering a heart attack, was a “force to be reckoned with.”

Sylvester, who formed a friendship with Hogan while filming 1982’s Rocky III, expanded at the time, “I remember he was immense. He was probably about 315 pounds, but very smart. He had this deep, calming voice, and he was willing to do anything that would make this show better.”

Sylvester continued, “The thing was, we started to roll around and he would literally pick me up and drop me to the ground, and I thought, ‘I’m going to be literally pulp by the time I land. He would always break the fall. He would do things you wouldn’t see, like a magician. And I’ll say, I’ve had a lot of punches thrown at me. No one was more accurate and precise than him.”

During the February episode of The Family Stallone, the actor’s daughter Scarlet spoke of the pain she’s seen her father go through over the years. “It’s really hard to see my father go through yet another painful operation,” she said at the time. “My whole childhood, he was in pain. He did everything he could to push through the pain and be present, but I couldn’t imagine every waking moment you are just hurting.”