James Gandolfini once threatened to 'beat the f***' out of Harvey Weinstein

The Sopranos star James Gandolfini once got so mad at Harvey Weinstein that he threatened to 'beat the f**k' out of him.

Their falling out came when Gandolfini was working on 2012 movie Killing Them Softly, which was being distributed by the Weinstein Co.

This was back in the days before the #MeToo movement, when a number of accusers bravely stepped forward and Weinstein's crimes became widely known.

One of the most powerful men in Hollywood, Weinstein would later end up being convicted of sex offences which would lead him to be sentenced to 23 years in prison.

The story of how Gandolfini got so mad that he threatened to 'beat the f**k' out of Weinstein was told by his Sopranos co-stars Steve Schirripa and Michael Imperioli when they were guests on The Joe Rogan Experience in 2020.

PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy Stock Photo

They recounted the time Gandolfini threatened Weinstein over repeated attempts to get him on talk shows.

The pair explained that throughout his career Gandolfini didn't want to do talk shows, only ever doing long interviews with 60 Minutes.

However, Weinstein kept trying to get him on The Late Show With David Letterman to do press for the movie, something which infuriated Gandolfini when Weinstein kept pushing for him to go on.

Schirripa said Gandolfini had been hanging out in his trailer with a bunch of Sopranos co-stars as he was getting bombarded with call after call from Weinstein bugging him to go on the show.

The Sopranos actor explained: "He said, 'Harvey Weinstein keeps calling, he wants me to do Letterman and I said no.'

"And he got f**king nasty with Jim. Jim said, 'I will beat the f**k out of Harvey Weinstein! He f**king calls me again, I will beat the f**k out of him! For the money he paid me, I’m not f**king doing it!'"

"Swear to God. And this is before all the Harvey Weinstein s**t when he was still king s**t."

Erik Pendzich / Alamy Stock Photo

In the end it was Gandolfini who got his way and Weinstein ended up not getting what he wanted.

Schirripa said the actor didn't want to go on talk shows because he thought he wasn't 'interesting' enough.

Gandolfini, who would have turned 61 years old yesterday (18 September), died in 2013 of a heart attack.

Weinstein was last year extradited to California to face further charges of rape and sexual assault after being charged with abusing several more women.

All of his lawyer's arguments against him facing more charges in Los Angeles were dismissed by the judge.

Days later he was flown out to California to face the charges, and Weinstein's next trial is scheduled to begin on 10 October.

He faces 11 charges and if found guilty faces a maximum sentence of 140 more years behind bars.

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