Kevin Smith Got Death Threats for “Dogma”: 'Imagine Getting That Irate Over a Movie with a Rubber Poop Monster'

The 1999 comedy starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck received “400,000 pieces of hate mail,” according to director Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith is having a laugh about the controversy surrounding his 1999 movie Dogma.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in a career retrospective published Friday, Sept. 13, the writer-director-actor, 54, remembered receiving "400,000 pieces of hate mail and three bona-fide death threats" upon the release of his film starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Linda Fiorentino.

Damon and Affleck, regular collaborators with Smith who had previously appeared in his 1997 film Chasing Amy, led Dogma as fallen angels trying to get to New Jersey and back into heaven. Fiorentino plays an abortion clinic counselor who must stop them in order to prevent the implosion of all of existence.

“The movie had a rubber poop monster in it," Smith pointed out to EW. "Can you imagine getting that irate over a movie with a rubber poop monster?”

Related: Kevin Smith Was 'Shocked' Ben Affleck 'Didn't Pop Up' in Deadpool & Wolverine as Daredevil (Exclusive)

Some people were offended by Smith’s irreverent take on Catholicism and religion. Among the hate-mail messages was one antisemitic letter that read "'... we're coming in there with shotguns,' " he recalled

“I hope whoever wrote that, that missive, found peace,” said Smith.

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The movie costars Chris Rock, Janeane Garofalo, Jason Lee, Salma Hayek Pinault, the late George Carlin and the late Alan Rickman. Playing God was Alanis Morissette. Smith appeared as Silent Bob alongside Jason Mewes as Jay, their characters from 1994 breakout Clerks, who would go on to appear in several installments of Smith’s "View Askewniverse."

Soon after Dogma’s release in 1999, the filmmaker called attention to another piece of feedback. "Comparing me to Hitler is quite a stretch," Smith quipped then, according to an EW report.

Dogma is currently not available on streaming platforms. In 2022, Smith claimed that producer Harvey Weinstein was "holding it hostage," telling The Wrap, "My movie about angels is owned by the devil himself.”

Smith’s latest project, The 4:30 Movie, is in theaters now.

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