Amid an outpouring of tributes to the late screen icon Paul Sorvino, who died Monday at age 83 of natural causes, one video in particular seemed to resonate with fans: A clip of the “Goodfellas” star threatening to choke his life out disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey O’Weinstein. The old clip garnered 126,000 views on Twitter as social media praised the deceased thespian for standing up to predators. “It’s reprehensible beyond words that women are being treated this way,” Sorvino told local news outlet KCAL9 at a Golden Globes event in January 2018, referring to the highly publicized scandal in which several actresses — including the actor’s own daughter Mira Sorvino — stepped forward to accuse Weinstein, 70, of rape, sexual assault or sexual harassment. “When you have a fantastic mother like me, you’re automatically a feminist. That’s why I have this wonderful wife,” added the “Godfather of Harlem” actor. “The reality is that anyone who exploits women should be publicly strangled and I will volunteer.” Paul Sorvino discusses the treatment of women (including his daughter) in Hollywood. He would have dealt with Harvey Weinstein personally, given the chance. A good man. His eyes always made me feel emotional. RIP. 🤍🕊 pic.twitter.com/TqKsHjVf2a — Spartan Roy (@TheDroyver) July 25, 2022 Social media praised Sorvino for his pro-women stance. “The Legend of the King of F!!” gushed one fan on Twitter, adding in a follow-up tweet, “I wish more men thought and acted like this!” “Harvey would have swam with the fishes,” said another, while a Sorvino supporter declared: “A man standing up for women!” Elsewhere in the interview, Sorvino addressed the horrific alleged incident, in which his daughter claimed she was blacklisted in Hollywood for refusing Weinstein’s advances. Paul Sorvino and Mira Sorvino during the Los Angeles Premiere of “The Cooler” at The Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.FilmMagic “She was denied, we know that,” lamented the “Romeo and Juliet” star. “It’s a terrible thing. She deserves all the new looks and the chances she might not have had because she has it all, she’s got the whole package and she’s a great person.” In 2017, Sorvino, 54, told The New Yorker that Weinstein, 65, tried to massage her and “chased” her in a hotel room in 1995, then invited himself to her apartment a few weeks later, bypassing her doorman. and she refused to leave until a friend she had invited to pose as her boyfriend arrived. “I can’t say for sure if [my career] affected,” admitted the “Summer Of Sam” actress. “But I won an Oscar with Miramax. Not to go on and star in their movies too past that makes no sense. I felt that if I had accepted Harvey’s advances, I would have gone on to make movies with them, and those were the people who won the Oscars that decade.” Harvey Weinstein leaves New York Criminal Court after a bail hearing on December 6, 2019, in New York CityGetty Images According to director Peter Jackson, Weinstein allegedly prevented Mira Sorvino from considering a role in the highly successful Lord of the Rings trilogy. That didn’t sit well with her father, who told TMZ in 2018, “If I meet him on the street, he’d better hope he goes to jail.” “Why if we meet [one another], I think he will be lying on the floor somehow, magically,” he added. “He’s going to jail. That son of ab-h, it’s good for him if he goes, because if he doesn’t, then he has to meet me and I’m going to kill that mama.” Paul Sorvino is perhaps most famous for his role as mob boss Paul Cicero in Martin Scorsese’s 1990 epic Goodfellas.©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection She claimed at the time that she found out about the sexual harassment and assault allegations and blacklisting against the ‘Shakespeare in Love’ director when the public found out, stating: ‘If I had known, she wouldn’t be walking. He would be in a wheelchair. “My daughter is a wonderful person,” he said at the time. “A brave and wonderful man and he does not deserve to be treated like this by this pig. This pig will have his response. The law will get him. He will go to jail and die in jail. But if he doesn’t… I’ll just slap him. I won’t do anything terrible.” Paul Sorvino, seen here in 2018, died Monday at age 83 of natural causes.WireImage After her father’s death, Mira tweeted a touching tribute to her late dad and champion of women’s rights. “My father the great Paul Sorvino is dead,” the devastated playwright wrote. “My heart is broken – a life of love, joy and wisdom with him is over. She added: “He was the most wonderful father. I love him so much. I’m sending you love to the stars dad as you ascend.”
