'Julius Caesar' Director, Wife Receive Death Threats: Reports

CENTRAL PARK, NY — The NYPD is investigating threats directed toward to the director of the Public Theater's controversial production of "Julius Caesar" and his wife, according to multiple reports.

Laurie Eustis, wife of director Oskar Eustis, reported a threatening call to police Tuesday, the Daily News reported. The call was reportedly left on the family's home phone on June 9, according to the report.

"I wanna grab you by your p****" the message said, according to the Daily News report. "Your husband wants Trump to die. I want him to die."

The threat is being investigated by the NYPD's hate crimes unit, according to the report.

The Public Theater's drew the ire of the right wing due to "Julius Caesar's" director Oskar Eustis' decision to adapt the play into a reflection on modern politics in which Caesar trades in his toga for a boxy suit and extra-long tie. While Trump is never mentioned by name, the actor portraying Caesar wears slicked-back strawberry blond hair and seems to draw inspiration from the 45th U.S. president.

Caesar is assassinated in the play.

The production's final performances in Central Park were disrupted by protesters.

During the play's finale two men rushed the stage and had to be escorted out of the theater by security. The two men — Salvatore Cipolla, 28, of Long Beach Road in Oceanside, and Jovanni Vale, 26, of East 92nd Street in Brooklyn — were arrested by the NYPD and charged with criminal trespassing. Vale was also charged with disorderly conduct.

"Goebbels would be proud," one of the men shouted — alluding to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels — as he stormed the stage of Central Park's Delacorte Theater.

Read the Daily News' full article here.

Photo by Verena Dobnik/Associated Press