The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation wants an ad for a Rockwell Billiards pool stick whacked!
A new product marketed by actor Joseph R. Gannascoli, who played the gay character Vito Spatafore on the HBO drama, "The Sopranos," has authorized his name to be used on a pool stick branded with the phrase "A Cue to Die For." This plays on the fact that Vito was beaten to death on "The Sopranos" with pool cues and then sodomized with one.
Says GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano: “It’s highly inappropriate that what served as a very real example of the hateful violence the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community faces is now being used as a gimmick to sell a product. The insensitive inclusion of the pool cue in the ‘To Die For’ marketing theme betrays the legacy of The Sopranos character and is unacceptable.”
Rockwell Billiards clearly sees nothing uncool about it, proudly announcing the new line of pool cues in a recent press release stating, “The cue is named ‘A Cue to Die For’ following in Gannascoli’s theme from his cookbook novel, ‘A Meal to Die For’ and the way he was killed. Gannascoli played Vito Spatafore; the gay mobster, in HBO's hit series The Sopranos. Joe starred in The Sopranos from 1999 appearing in 43 episodes. He was finally whacked in episode #11 during season 6. Vito was brutally beaten to death with a pool cue when the mob found out he was gay.”
Idiots.
GLAAD is calling on Rockwell Billiards and Gannascoli to remove the name, “A Cue to Die For,” from this product immediately and apologize for using such a vulgar symbol of violence and anti-gay bigotry to make a profit.