Gallo is known for his outspoken and highly-quotable views and claims, once saying "I stopped painting in 1990 at the peak of my success just to deny people my beautiful paintings, and I did it out of spite". In 2003, he aggressively defended his conservative Republican politics to French journalists during the US invasion of Iraq. He also has engaged in a feud with film critic Roger Ebert after Ebert called his film The Brown Bunny "the worst in the history" of the Cannes Film Festival. Numerous public exchanges followed in which, among other events, Gallo put a hex on Ebert's prostate and Ebert declared watching the video of his colonoscopy preferable to The Brown Bunny. The feud was eventually resolved and Ebert endorsed a re-cut version of the film. Gallo himself was critical of the Cannes cut, saying it was not ready to be shown, and stating that the fact that several French critics were defending it was "almost like salt in the wound".
In November 2005, via his merchandise site, someone speaking for Gallo made an offer of his services as a sperm donor for $1 million US. It includes a "BUY NOW" link to a PayPal form, and a $500,000 additional charge for "natural" insemination (to be waived by Gallo if the woman is attractive). While the offer is arguably satirical, some people were offended by its racist conditions, one of which excludes "those of extremely dark complexions".
In his personal website, and including several interviews, specifically a March 2002 interview with USA Today, Gallo defended is views of the inferiority of certain races, claiming that the darker ones skin was, the less intelligent they were. Many of his supporters state that this is just a publicity stunt.