Sopranos Stars Reveal James Gandolfini Almost Beat Up Harvey Weinstein
The Sopranos stars Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa reveal that James Gandolfini threatened to beat up producer Harvey Weinstein.
Two stars of The Sopranos recall a time where their co-star James Gandolfini threatened to beat up Harvey Weinstein. The Sopranos has remained one of HBO’s most critically acclaimed series, which ran for six seasons between 1999 and 2007. Gandolfini played the main character of the series, Tony Soprano, a successful mob boss in New Jersey.
The Weinstein scandal began to get media attention back in 2017, when several women, including Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd, accused the famous producer of sexual harassment. This led to Weinstein being fired from The Weinstein Company just a few days later. Over the years, more and more women came out to speak against Weinstein, which led to the #MeToo movement getting worldwide attention and support from many influential figures in Hollywood. Just a few months ago, Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for the rape of actress Jessica Mann and for the sexual assault of Miriam Haley. While the last few years have seen the dramatic downfall of Weinstein, a new issue with the producer has come to light.
During a segment on The Joe Rogan Experience, Michael Imperioli (Christopher Moltisanti) and Steve Schirripa (Bobby Baccalieri) talked about the legacy of Gandolfini, who passed away back in 2013. Schirripa explained that Gandolfini wasn’t fond of appearing on talk-shows, but Weinstein got “nasty” with Gandolfini when he refused to go on the Late Show With David Letterman to promote Killing Them Softly. Angry after receiving multiple calls from the producer, Gandolfini reportedly exclaimed, “I will beat the f*** out of Harvey Weinstein! He f***ing calls me again, I will beat the f*** out of him! For the money he paid me, I’m not f***ing doing it!”
With the amount of media attention the Weinstein scandal received, it’s no surprise that the story of Weinstein’s downfall is being turned into a movie. Not much is known about the film at this point, but the story will revolve around Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, two of the main journalists who helped get the victims’ stories out to the public. While this film, along with a few other projects, is still in development, director Kitty Green released her film called The Assistant last year, which is also based on the Weinstein scandal.
While Tony Soprano was a violent and serious mob boss in The Sopranos, Imperioli and Schirripa reiterated in their interview that Gandolfini was the complete opposite in real life, even comparing him to a hippie. Since Gandolfini’s was considered to be an easygoing actor, it speaks volumes about Weinstein’s character that he was able to get Gandolfini this worked up. Gandolfini’s Killing Them Softly co-star Brad Pitt also had a confrontation with Weinstein, and he even threatened to kill the producer for sexually harassing Gwyneth Paltrow. Despite Weinstein currently serving his prison sentence, more information on the Weinstein scandal will likely continue to be revealed in the coming years.
