New York Post, Monday, August 19, 2019nypost.com3dethroning the “Fast & Furious”
spinoff “Hobbs & Shaw,” which slid
to second in its third weekend, with
$14.1 million.
Not since Melissa McCarthy’s
“The Boss” debuted in first in April
2016 has an R-rated comedy topped
the North American box office.
“The Lion King” was No. 3 in its
fifth week, with $11.9 million. APThe R-rated comedy, left for dead
by some Hollywood studios, again
reached No. 1 at the box office over
the weekend thanks to the raunchy
coming-of-age tale “Good Boys,”
about three 12-year-olds on a crude
misadventure.
“Good Boys” surpassed expecta-
tions to debut with $21 million, ac-
cording to studio estimates Sunday,By JORGE FITZ-GIBBON“The Godfather” actor Gianni
Russo has one word for Chris
Cuomo: Fuhgeddaboudit!
Russo, who portrayed Godfather
Vito Corleone’s wife-beating son-
in-law, Carlo Rizzi, in the classic
mobster flick, says CNN anchor
Cuomo made a fool out of himself
when he flew off the handle after
being called “Fredo.”
“I couldn’t under-
stand, because he’s
such an intelligent
kid, educated and
everything else. I
heard he’s hurt his
career,” the actor, 75,
told TMZ of
Cuomo, adding that
the broadcaster’s
dad, ex-Gov. Mario
Cuomo, wouldn’t
have been too
pleased about the
outburst.
“I knew the whole family — his
father would smack him. All these
news guys, they’re so opinion-
ated,” said Russo (inset), who
added that being insulted about
being compared to a character
from the Oscar-winning film is
“like spitting on the Mona Lisa.”
Cuomo, 49, went on a vulgar,
caught-on-camera rant during an
event on Shelter Island last week
after a heckler called him “Fredo”
— Corleone’s bumbling son in the
movie franchise — going so far as
to say the moniker is “like the N-
word” for Italian-Americans.
“Punk-ass bitches from the rightcall me ‘Fredo,’ My name is Chris
Cuomo, I’m an anchor on CNN,”
Cuomo says on video. “Fredo is
from ‘The Godfather,’ he was a
weak brother, and the use of it to
an Italian is disparaging.
“Don’t f--king insult me like
that,” Cuomo said. “You call me
‘Fredo,’ it’s like I call you punk
bitch, you like that?”
CNN stood behind Cuomo after
his rant went viral, but insiders
said staffers were
“embarrassed.”
Last week, Cuomo,
the brother of Gov.
Andrew Cuomo,
apologized for the
rant, saying on Twit-
ter that the “truth is
I should be better
than the guys bait-
ing me.”
Russo said he
“loves” the entire
Cuomo family and
doubts they would
have teased Chris by calling him
Fredo as a kid.
“Knowing that family, I don’t
think they would ever say that to
him,” Russo said. “They like him.
He’s the last of the kids.
“In fact, [Chris] was sitting at
the table at the Waldorf-Astoria
when they honored his father for
Columbus, a Columbus event,”
Russo recalled.
“I was the only one that knew
how to sing ‘Mama’ in Italian. I
sang on my hands and knees until
the whole family was sitting at the
table. He was a little boy.”
[email protected]WHAT’S
CHRIS SO
A’FREDO?
‘G’father’ star on Cuo
Foul-mouth ‘Good Boys’ beat box-office cur$e
TheImageDirect.com
It’s a double “oh!” as Joe
Jonas and wife Sophie Turner
make a stunning entrance at
his James Bond-themed
30th-birthday bash at Cipriani
Wall Street. Looking dapper
in a white dinner jacket, the
pop singer arrived with the
“Game of Thrones” star in the
Brit spy’s ride of choice — an
Aston Martin. Also attending
were brother Nick Jonas and
Nick’s wife, Priyanka Chopra.