Talk about perfect timing. The new issue of GQ hits stands next week and in the article they talk about James Gandolfini's drug and alcohol problem that shut down production of the Sopranos for a period of time and his movie The Mexican. In divorce documents his ex-wife filed, she alleges that Gandolfini was so messed up on coke and booze that he would hit himself in the head and was violent and even was so out of control that production on the Sopranos was shut down for four days once when James went missing and that production on The Mexican also had to be shut down at one point. She also alleges that during their marriage, Gandolfini had a string of affairs and was crazy about strippers. You can read the whole article
here.
Is that really necessary GQ?
ReplyDeleteLow...
ReplyDeleteVery low GQ. I won't bother reading it.
ReplyDeleteThis issue of GQ was printed long before Gandolfini died.
ReplyDelete+1, in 2013 people still don't know how print media works?
DeleteWow.. talk about some damn bad luck.
ReplyDeleteObviously SKOR is correct. GQ had no way of knowing Gandolfini was about to die.
ReplyDeleteSeriously??? The guy hasn't even been gone for more than 3 days. Tasteless...true or not. Still a good man and still a great actor.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I'll probably be dead in the next 15-20 years. (I'm 40) Excessive coke use causes heart damage. I am totally, totally fucked.
ReplyDeleteThe salient point is, he knew, he corrected his behaviour, and he had a close bond with his children. The doctor in Italy just released the autopsy, clean as a whistle.
ReplyDeleteThat's what his kids need to know, what he overcame and how much he loved them.
Bad timing, i dont think any ill will intended. I think alot of us knew he had problems with booze and drugs and partying.
ReplyDeleteCoke problem and 50 lbs overweight. Gee, I wonder why his heart gave out. Great actor however
ReplyDeleteVery low and tasteless. ALL (almost) Hollywood actors and actresses are drug and booze lovers at best.
ReplyDeleteThere is no need to say it about a great actor who just passed.
Probably it was printed weeks ago, but it could have been changed at the last minute, as many other news are when writers are threatened or paid by the people depicted.
Why is he a saint now that he is dead? A little immature, magical thinking, great actor or not, I think.
ReplyDeleteWho the hell couldn't see that from a mile away? I'd put the over under % on male cast members of the Sopranos being coke fiends at 75%.
ReplyDeleteCocaine and Prosciutto did him in, no doubt.
Not GQ's fault...a magazine is put to bed about three months before it hits the newsstand.
ReplyDeleteGQ mainly mentioned the divorce documents filled by the wife. There were details of booze and drugs but nothing about coke, or any allegation that these issues were responsible for any shut down. The article actually stated that Gandolfini was intense and had issues handling fame and that not going on set was his most frequent way to deal with it. Drugs and alcohol were another way to handle that, but the article never established any connection between his drug intake and him not being on set.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, HE filed for divorce and it's common knowledge that spouses exaggerate claims to get better terms in a settlement or just due to hatred. Remember Mia Farrow and Woody Allen. He behavior with his step-daughter wasn't glorious but the claims by Mia Farrow that he had abused his biological son were most likely a fabrication to hit back at him (which I understand perfectly).
So, take Gandolfini's former wife's claims with a grain of salt.
Never thought I'd say this but I feel bad for GQ. There's NO WAY they could have changed it at the last minute, Jonathan AS. He died three days ago. At that point, the magazines were already printed, delivered, and sitting on stockroom shelves. The only thing they could have done was ASKED the stores to not display it, but shit, every newsstand and bookstore in America (and beyond) is gonna laugh at that. Dead celebs sell magazines, whether the news is good or bad. Gandolfini was a beloved star, people want to read about him.
ReplyDeleteMethod acting, duh.
ReplyDeleteIt's a sad situation, but not GQ's fault.
ReplyDeleteWell said @MadamChef.
ReplyDelete@Angela. regarding your comment on woody allen: "... He behavior with his step-daughter wasn't glorious"
ReplyDeleteum. taking naked photos of her spread eagle when she was 14? if that behavior is considered by you as 'not glorious', well, I can't even....
and who are you to claim that mia farrow was lying about the claims of abuse? seriously.
Magazines go to press quite aways ahead of time, especially montlies like GQ. They didnt know he was gonna die. Also, this is really an old story--I remember hearing about this on the gossip blogs at the time.
ReplyDeleteWasn't there a blind recently about an actor who was off the rails, and would die if he didn't get straight?
ReplyDeleteI'm a thinking Gandolfini had a heads up about the GQ article coming out and was a bit stressed out about it?
ReplyDeletedonkey, I read an interesting article about just that today. A dr said overweight and drugs MAY hv been cause, but it also masks symptoms, ie, an overweight person blows off feeling out of breath or tired, thinking its because they are overweight, when actually they may be symptoms of heart trouble. Interesting,eh?
ReplyDeleteMadameChef: Really like your contributions here. I enjoy hearing what you have to say.
ReplyDeleteYeah, these GQ's are sitting somewhere ready to be on display for sale. NO WAY can GQ even pull them back. And even though it might have what his ex said during their divorce this article might also have something good from Gandolfini. I mean he did pose for the front page.
Everyone needs to simmah down!
I read the whole thing last night. Its mostly about David Chase. Theres nothing about strippers. And its an excerpt from a book.
ReplyDeleteSo now you don't have to bother. Interesting read though.
The news is saying today that he had 8 alcoholic beverages, 2 orders of fried prawns and a "large" order of foie gras an hour or so before he died. Sounds like he still had his issues with alcohol.
ReplyDeleteBooze and fried foods will certainly do you in if you have heart problems. How sad.
ReplyDelete8 drinks isn't a drinking problem. Dude was on vacation, livin it up. Drinking problem is the DTs on a Tuesday cause you haven't drank since Sunday afternoon.
ReplyDeleteAnd he had to be pushin 300 pounds. Crap, I aint near 300lbs, and I'll pass any field sobriety test you got w/ 8 drinks in me.
A talented, genius, delicate, sensitive artististic soul has problems dealing with worldwide adulation, pressure and fame and turns to booze and coke? Really? Seriously? Get outta town!
ReplyDeletebooze, coke, fried foods, jet lagged, being an international superstar when you really just want to be an artist(emotional stress, turmoil, inner conflict, shyness, introvert, self conscious) and do your work quietly is a recipe for a heart attack in a middle aged man.
ReplyDeleteif i dropped dead today im sure all my evil dirt will come tumbling down. On paper it would sound horrible, but ive been good to some
ReplyDeletewhat a charming tribute!! (ironic)
ReplyDeleteRIP James
i hope the best to his family and i hope his kids never read it
The GQ story was written months ago, and the magazine was put together anywhere from 3 to 6 months ago. I love the way most people think magazines are like websites, which can be updated instantaneously. Magazine production is a long process. This was just incredibly bad luck.
ReplyDeleteStill, it's good to have cautionary tales out there. If Gandolfini hadn't abused drugs and alcohol to excess, if her wasn't about 80 pounds overweight, if he hadn't eaten disgusting fatty food like foie gras all the time, he might have lived to see his kids grow up.
But he made his choices. This is all about cause and effect. GQ has nothing to be ashamed about.
None of this is new. It was all made public at the time of his divorce.
ReplyDelete@Sandy - Word.
ReplyDeleteAlso a good point why it's probably not a great idea to be having babies in your 50's. You have to consider the remote possibility that MAYBE that kid is going to grow up without knowing one of its parents. But hey, that's thinking about people other than yourself? Can't have that in Hollywood! Let the narcissism commence!
@Megan00m: people don't become saints after death but their family members don't need the extra suffering this type of reporting causes.
ReplyDeleteI just wish I had thought of the name "Count Jerkula" Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteI love how people always look away from their own vices and point at others ones the person had to reassure themselves of their own health situation. He drank, he overate, he did coke, and while he was working he was known for an explosive temper (it's a very stressful business and you can't help but lose it on occasion). What it comes down to is we're all human. We all will die -- some before others. I think a little compassion is in order, whatever the cause.
ReplyDeleteThank you Crystal. I have a few "jerk" centric names. I like to set the tone early in my relationship with websites.
ReplyDeleteHow ridiculous.Why run this after his death.He had obviously cleaned up his life and thats what counts.The almighty dollar rules the world for sure.Very poor taste
ReplyDeleteHow ridiculous.Why run this after his death.He had obviously cleaned up his life and thats what counts.The almighty dollar rules the world for sure.Very poor taste
ReplyDeleteThe list of successful actors that haven't had a drug or alcohol problem is shorter than the list of those that have...
ReplyDeleteWay to keep it classy GQ. Now his kids can read this shit. Not cool at all.
ReplyDeleteIt was the yellow fever that killed him. Guess she won't be loving him long time now :(
ReplyDelete@888: if Yellow Fever can be fatal, then it is going to slot in on my Ways I Wanna Die List between smothered by Selena Gomez's buttocks and Amy Adams' husband shooting me in the back as I flee after finishing.
ReplyDeleteI think his first wife was probably angry about her son being scarred for life. Finding his dad nearly dead in the bathroom is probably only a step away from finding him after a suicide. And THEN he died at the hospital. Great. That poor boy. He'll take those images with him to his death.
ReplyDeleteAnd Gandolfini HADN'T "cleaned up his act," not if he had 8 drinks with a dinner of fried shrimp and foie gras, which is basically a slab of solid fat.
GQ is not responsible for what other people said about Gandolfini - they're just reporting, which is what everyone does these days.
I know the difference between a website and a magazine, I also have heard these things before. Uploading it onto their website a day after he died is tasteless. Just because the magazines have been printed doesn't mean they need to further it.
ReplyDelete@annabella
ReplyDeleteSoon-Yi Previn was 19, not 14 when he took naked pictures of her. As the judge stated, it was "grossly inappropriate", because he was his stepfather, but not child abuse.
Ronan, Farrow and Allen's sole biological son, has made comments about his father, and is absolutely disgusted about his father marrying his (half-) adoptive sister but never spoke about himself being the victim of child molestation. He even had a great joke on Twitter last year about "Happy father's day, or as they call it in my family, happy brother in law's day."
Which is incidentally funnier than almost every attempt by his father at humor in the recent years.
So, the guy (who has turned into a bright and balanced human being, by the way) has no issues joking about his father's terrible behavior and the harm it did to the family.
It's enough for him hating his father, and if the charges of child abuse on himwere true (they were dismissed in court), I can't see how he would be able to joke about something that's comparatively "lighter" involving his dad.
Angela, that's a terrific story about Roman. Thank you for sharing it! ITA, light years funnier than anything his father has put out in a long time. Glad he turned out okay.
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