CNN host Chris Cuomo’s profane rant about being called “Fredo” has caught the attention of “The Godfather” actor Gianni Russo, who told TMZ that he “can’t believe he [Cuomo] would say that.”
Cuomo, after being called “Fredo” by a man in a bar, said that calling an Italian person “Fredo” is like calling an African-American person the “N-word.” Russo, who played Carlo Rizzi, the abusive son-in-law of Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone, told TMZ over the weekend: "I can't believe that he would say that. First of all, I know the whole family. His father would smack him.”
He added, "I know his mother,” former first lady of New York Matilda Cuomo, “I was just with his mother recently.”
Russo later said that Cuomo’s father, the late New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, would “of course” be ashamed of his son’s remark.
"First of all, it's a classic film. You're talking about a character who is weak,” he said.
"All these news guys are getting too opinionated,” Russo said later, after claiming that Cuomo had “hurt his career” with the comment. “They are supposed to report news. It's not about what you think. You're taking Fredo, a character from a classic. It's like spitting at the Mona Lisa. Are you crazy or what?"
He said later: "Knowing that family, I don't think they would say that to him. They like him. He's the last of the kids. I know them all."
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