‘Goodfellas’ Actor Frank Sivero Blasts ‘Stereotype’ Warning Slapped On Movie: ‘It’s An Insult’

AMC Networks slapped a content warning on Martin Scorsese’s mob classic, “Goodfellas,” and one of the film’s stars, Frank Sivero, isn’t thrilled about it.

Sivero said the trigger warning is not necessary, and is actually an insult to the film’s famous actors, including Robert De Niro and the late Ray Liotta, according to TMZ. He noted there was nothing stereotypical about his mob character, and insisted that Scorsese allowed the actors to improvise many of the key moments in the film, ultimately allowing them to make their own choices.

AMC’s warning advises viewers the movie contains “language and/or cultural stereotypes,” according to The Independent.

“I’m kind of a little bit perturbed in a way, that AMC that even, AMC even cuts the movie completely, you don’t hear the language, they delete the language, so why are they so upset?” Sivero  said, in a video message posted by TMZ.

Sivero explained his position and described the ways he brought this own character to life in the film, as an adaptation that came directly from him.

“I’m a little perturbed because thank God I was able to do my job by improvisation,” he said, noting a scene in which his character prepares coffee in the midst of a murder. “I created that, I made those moments real, to take the tension away from those gruesome moments,” Sivero told TMZ.

 

 

Viewers who tune in to watch the 1990 classic on AMC’s channel or streaming service, AMC+ will now be shown a message that reads, “This film includes language and/or cultural stereotypes that are inconsistent with today’s standards of inclusion and tolerance and may offend some viewers,” according to The Independent.

AMC spoke out on the matter, saying they added the content warning to the film several years ago.

“In 2020, we began adding advisories in front of certain films that include racial or cultural references that some viewers might find offensive,” the channel told the New York Post. In one of the film’s scenes, Joe Pesci’s character scolds his girlfriend for saying she finds black singer Sammy Davis Jr. attractive.  (RELATED: Martin Scorsese Says Epic Line By Robert De Niro Was Improvised)

The late film critic Roger Ebert called “Goodfellas” the best mob movie ever made — better even than “The Godfather.”