Corey Feldman claims Johnny Depp got him kicked off What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Corey Feldman has claimed that Johnny Depp got him ousted from the 1993 film What's Eating Gilbert Grape by allegedly telling producers he was "a junkie".

The Goonies star has alleged that he was cast as Gilbert Grape's disabled younger brother but was dropped from the part after Depp signed up to play the titular role.

"I never saw the film because I'm still bitter. Bitter leaf in that one. But yes, I was originally cast for that role," he said on The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan podcast, reports Entertainment Weekly.

The Smashing Pumpkins star then asked the former child actor if "they" pushed him out.

"Johnny Depp," he alleged. "He was cast after I was, and apparently whispered into the producers' ear that he wasn't fond of me, and thought - he said that I was a junkie and that he didn't work with junkies."

Feldman, 53, candidly added, "And this is the first time I've ever telling this story, so I'm sure I'm gonna get hung by this one."

Corgan asked The Lost Boys star, who has a history of substance abuse, if he was using drugs at the time, and he insisted he was sober.

"I had just gotten sober. I had just gotten out of rehab. I had turned my life around," he stated, adding that he was trying to help his Stand by Me co-star River Phoenix, who was friends with Depp, tackle his addictions.

Phoenix had a fatal drug overdose in The Viper Room, which Depp co-owned, in October 1993 at the age of 23.

Returning to the film, Feldman continued, "As you can imagine, there was a bit of a thorn in the side on that one. And, had I not been pushed out and done that role, who knows what would have happened from that point forward."

He noted that the role of Arnold 'Arnie' Grape went to Leonardo DiCaprio, who received critical acclaim for his performance and went on to receive his first Oscar nomination at the age of 19.