04-11-2011, 10:38 PM
a new level of trash TV. so-called mafia princesses. mob wives. losers. goomahs.
from The Daily Mail
VH1's new reality series, Mob Wives, follows four Staten Island women as they cope while their husbands are serving time in jail.
They dress in furs, drip with gold and look every inch the gangster's moll - but series creator Jenn Graziano, herself the daughter of an alleged Mafia consigliere, said their lives are anything but glamorous.
Meet the molls: The stars of VH1's Mob Wives, which follows four Staten Island women with gangster connections
She told the New York Post: 'It's not all fancy clothes and cars. These are women who are now single moms trying to make it on their own.'
But few single mothers have quite so many underworld connections - or spend quite so much time coming to blows with their friends.
There are two vicious screaming matches in the trailer alone, one of which descends into a hair-pulling wrestling bout.
The series revolves around the return of Karen Gravano, whose father Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano became the Mafia's most high-profile informer when he turned in John Gotti and brought down the Gambino crime family.
The 38-year-old lived in Arizona with her father on a witness protection program after his release from prison, before he outed himself to promote a book about his life.
Now Gravano, who according to the Post worked as a strip club's 'house mom' in Arizona, has come back to Staten Island to write her own memoir about growing up as a turncoat's daughter.
In the trailer for the series, which airs on April 17, she said: 'I'm gangster and I'm coming home.
'My father always taught me don't be a tattle-tale, so when he cooperated I didn't understand why he was doing it.
'I felt betrayed. I was the daughter of Sammy The Bull; now I was the daughter of Sammy The Rat.'
In 2002, her father was convicted of running a drug ring selling 30,000 doses of ecstasy of week, according to the Post. His daughter was implicated in the crime, and she served three years of probation.
The 'daughter of the rat' is far from popular with Renee Graziano, Jenn Graziano's sister.
According to her show biography she is a 'mob loyalist', who supported her father Anthony 'The Little Guy' Graziano, suspected to be a high-ranking member of La Cosa Nostra.
And she used to be married to Hector Pagan Jr, who was convicted of running a marijuana distribution ring.
She said: 'A rat is someone who doesn't mind their fucking business and gets involved with the cops.
'If you're a rat, you're not in my circle. Matter of fact, I'll make your life so fucking miserable you won't be able to hang out in anybody's circle.'
But now Graziano, serving time for racketeering in a North Carolina prison, has disowned both his daughters because of the show.
Jenn Graziano told the New York Post: 'He absolutely has not given his blessing. He's not very happy at all, to be honest.
Mobster heritage: The daughter of alleged consigliere Anthony Graziano, left stars in the show, as does the daughter of Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano
'We tried to explain to him that . . . we're not giving away any secrets. But he's not even speaking to us.'
Her sister, who emerges as one of the show's key players, also comes to blows with Drita D'avanzo, who describes herself as 'tough as nails.'
The mother-of-two defied her strict Albanian family to marry an Italian, Lee D'avanzo, who has spent ten of their 12 years together in jail, and is currently serving time for bank robbery.
According to the Post, she may also have a problem with the newly-returned Gravano - she used to date her husband.
The fourth star is Carla Facciolo, who is trying to shed her 'mob wife' title by divorcing her husband Joseph Ferragamo, who is in jail for stock fraud.
D'avanzo is also struggling to stick with her husband, while Renee Graziano divorced her husband AJ several years ago.
It's one of the main reasons the show could be made. Jenn Graziano told the Post: 'They were a bit hesitant at first. But at the same time, they're ready to start new chapters in their lives and stand on their own two feet.
'They only have themselves to rely on. It's a realistic side of them that makes them no different from other women.'
Meet the Mob Wives of Staten Island
Renee Graziano: 'Call me a Mafia princess, call me anything you want'
Graziano's father is Anthony Graziano, allegedly a high-ranking member of La Cosa Nostra who is currently serving time in a North Carolina jail for racketeering.
She became a 'mob loyalist', marrying and divorcing Hector Pagan Jr, who was arrested last year in a Mafia sweep.
They have a 16-year-old son, AJ, who she says she wants to keep clear of the mob.
Her younger sister Jenn created the series, and describes her sister as 'the most warm-hearted person you'll ever meet.'
Graziano has her own card company, Jail Mail, which enlists letter writers to comfort inmates on the inside.
She said: 'Call me a Mafia princess, call me anything you want.'
'Family is everything, without your family you're alone. You're right if you're loyal, you're wrong if you're not loyal. Loyalty is everything.'
Karen Gravano: 'I feel like the people you need to be loyal to in life is the family'
Gravano is the daughter of Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano, the Mafia underboss who cooperated with prosecutors to take downJohn Gotti and the Gambino crime family.
He admitted killing 19 people in a long criminal career and was imprisoned in 1992, but as one of the highest-ranking informers in the history of organised crime he won early release in 1995.
He moved to Arizona in under the federal witness protection scheme, but eventually left the program so her could promote a book.
Gravano said she was 'devastated' when her father turned informer and at first refused to join him in Arizona, but she eventually moved there ten years ago to open up a 'lucrative day spa', according to her official show biography.
While she was there she also served years of probation after she was implicated in drug ring her father confessed to running.
Now she has returned to Staten Island to write her own memoir, for which she has received a six-figure advance, according to the Post.
She said: 'One of the reason why I chose to go back is because I want to write a book about being the child of a gangster, I chose to write this book to close that chapter of my life so I can move on.'
'Family to me is extremely important. I feel like the people you need to be loyal to in life is the family.'
Drita D'avanzo: 'I'm sensitive, some people hurt my feelings and I punch them in the face.'
D'avanzo was brought up in Staten Island in a strict Albanian family. Her father, a soccer coach, taught her to be tough, never allowed her to cry and made her do hundreds of sit-ups a day.
According to her show biography, she was invited to play in the women's national soccer team, but fell in with her first love 'the streets'.
Her family disowned her because she married an Italian, Lee D'avanzo, who prosecutors claim is a high-ranking member of the Bonanno family.
He first went to prison for bank robbery when D'avanzo was pregnant with their first daughter Aleeya, now nine.
He was released three years ago, her husband got a legitimate job and the couple had another daughter, Gizelle.
But last year he was arrested for bank robbery again, and is now serving a two to five year sentence. She works freelance as a make-up artist as she tries to support her family.
She said: 'Prison time is per cent more difficult on me and my kids than him...
'I'm sensitive, some people hurt my feelings and I punch them in the face.'
'Everything I do, everything I think to do, revolves around my family. Without my family I would have nothing.'
Carla Facciolo: 'When I visited prison half the people I grew up with were all there, I felt like it was a reunion'
Facciolo grew up in Bergen Beach, Brooklyn, and her father was sent to prison when she was a young girl.
She started dating 'street guys' when she was 17, but eventually met and married a stock broker, Joey Ferragamo.
She thought she had escaped the mobster lifestyle - until Ferregamo was jailed for stock fraud, which she describes as 'not a bad crime'.
Now she raises the couple's twins by herself, and is in the process of divorcing Ferregamo.
She also works as a sales representative for a juice company.
Facciolo is known as the 'sex kitten' of the group.
She said: '[When I visited prison] half the people I grew up with were all there, I felt like it was a reunion because everyone I knew was there.
'Family is everything. Without my mother, all the time I was alone, I would have been lost.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...sland.html
from The Daily Mail
VH1's new reality series, Mob Wives, follows four Staten Island women as they cope while their husbands are serving time in jail.
They dress in furs, drip with gold and look every inch the gangster's moll - but series creator Jenn Graziano, herself the daughter of an alleged Mafia consigliere, said their lives are anything but glamorous.
Meet the molls: The stars of VH1's Mob Wives, which follows four Staten Island women with gangster connections
She told the New York Post: 'It's not all fancy clothes and cars. These are women who are now single moms trying to make it on their own.'
But few single mothers have quite so many underworld connections - or spend quite so much time coming to blows with their friends.
There are two vicious screaming matches in the trailer alone, one of which descends into a hair-pulling wrestling bout.
The series revolves around the return of Karen Gravano, whose father Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano became the Mafia's most high-profile informer when he turned in John Gotti and brought down the Gambino crime family.
The 38-year-old lived in Arizona with her father on a witness protection program after his release from prison, before he outed himself to promote a book about his life.
Now Gravano, who according to the Post worked as a strip club's 'house mom' in Arizona, has come back to Staten Island to write her own memoir about growing up as a turncoat's daughter.
In the trailer for the series, which airs on April 17, she said: 'I'm gangster and I'm coming home.
'My father always taught me don't be a tattle-tale, so when he cooperated I didn't understand why he was doing it.
'I felt betrayed. I was the daughter of Sammy The Bull; now I was the daughter of Sammy The Rat.'
In 2002, her father was convicted of running a drug ring selling 30,000 doses of ecstasy of week, according to the Post. His daughter was implicated in the crime, and she served three years of probation.
The 'daughter of the rat' is far from popular with Renee Graziano, Jenn Graziano's sister.
According to her show biography she is a 'mob loyalist', who supported her father Anthony 'The Little Guy' Graziano, suspected to be a high-ranking member of La Cosa Nostra.
And she used to be married to Hector Pagan Jr, who was convicted of running a marijuana distribution ring.
She said: 'A rat is someone who doesn't mind their fucking business and gets involved with the cops.
'If you're a rat, you're not in my circle. Matter of fact, I'll make your life so fucking miserable you won't be able to hang out in anybody's circle.'
But now Graziano, serving time for racketeering in a North Carolina prison, has disowned both his daughters because of the show.
Jenn Graziano told the New York Post: 'He absolutely has not given his blessing. He's not very happy at all, to be honest.
Mobster heritage: The daughter of alleged consigliere Anthony Graziano, left stars in the show, as does the daughter of Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano
'We tried to explain to him that . . . we're not giving away any secrets. But he's not even speaking to us.'
Her sister, who emerges as one of the show's key players, also comes to blows with Drita D'avanzo, who describes herself as 'tough as nails.'
The mother-of-two defied her strict Albanian family to marry an Italian, Lee D'avanzo, who has spent ten of their 12 years together in jail, and is currently serving time for bank robbery.
According to the Post, she may also have a problem with the newly-returned Gravano - she used to date her husband.
The fourth star is Carla Facciolo, who is trying to shed her 'mob wife' title by divorcing her husband Joseph Ferragamo, who is in jail for stock fraud.
D'avanzo is also struggling to stick with her husband, while Renee Graziano divorced her husband AJ several years ago.
It's one of the main reasons the show could be made. Jenn Graziano told the Post: 'They were a bit hesitant at first. But at the same time, they're ready to start new chapters in their lives and stand on their own two feet.
'They only have themselves to rely on. It's a realistic side of them that makes them no different from other women.'
Meet the Mob Wives of Staten Island
Renee Graziano: 'Call me a Mafia princess, call me anything you want'
Graziano's father is Anthony Graziano, allegedly a high-ranking member of La Cosa Nostra who is currently serving time in a North Carolina jail for racketeering.
She became a 'mob loyalist', marrying and divorcing Hector Pagan Jr, who was arrested last year in a Mafia sweep.
They have a 16-year-old son, AJ, who she says she wants to keep clear of the mob.
Her younger sister Jenn created the series, and describes her sister as 'the most warm-hearted person you'll ever meet.'
Graziano has her own card company, Jail Mail, which enlists letter writers to comfort inmates on the inside.
She said: 'Call me a Mafia princess, call me anything you want.'
'Family is everything, without your family you're alone. You're right if you're loyal, you're wrong if you're not loyal. Loyalty is everything.'
Karen Gravano: 'I feel like the people you need to be loyal to in life is the family'
Gravano is the daughter of Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano, the Mafia underboss who cooperated with prosecutors to take downJohn Gotti and the Gambino crime family.
He admitted killing 19 people in a long criminal career and was imprisoned in 1992, but as one of the highest-ranking informers in the history of organised crime he won early release in 1995.
He moved to Arizona in under the federal witness protection scheme, but eventually left the program so her could promote a book.
Gravano said she was 'devastated' when her father turned informer and at first refused to join him in Arizona, but she eventually moved there ten years ago to open up a 'lucrative day spa', according to her official show biography.
While she was there she also served years of probation after she was implicated in drug ring her father confessed to running.
Now she has returned to Staten Island to write her own memoir, for which she has received a six-figure advance, according to the Post.
She said: 'One of the reason why I chose to go back is because I want to write a book about being the child of a gangster, I chose to write this book to close that chapter of my life so I can move on.'
'Family to me is extremely important. I feel like the people you need to be loyal to in life is the family.'
Drita D'avanzo: 'I'm sensitive, some people hurt my feelings and I punch them in the face.'
D'avanzo was brought up in Staten Island in a strict Albanian family. Her father, a soccer coach, taught her to be tough, never allowed her to cry and made her do hundreds of sit-ups a day.
According to her show biography, she was invited to play in the women's national soccer team, but fell in with her first love 'the streets'.
Her family disowned her because she married an Italian, Lee D'avanzo, who prosecutors claim is a high-ranking member of the Bonanno family.
He first went to prison for bank robbery when D'avanzo was pregnant with their first daughter Aleeya, now nine.
He was released three years ago, her husband got a legitimate job and the couple had another daughter, Gizelle.
But last year he was arrested for bank robbery again, and is now serving a two to five year sentence. She works freelance as a make-up artist as she tries to support her family.
She said: 'Prison time is per cent more difficult on me and my kids than him...
'I'm sensitive, some people hurt my feelings and I punch them in the face.'
'Everything I do, everything I think to do, revolves around my family. Without my family I would have nothing.'
Carla Facciolo: 'When I visited prison half the people I grew up with were all there, I felt like it was a reunion'
Facciolo grew up in Bergen Beach, Brooklyn, and her father was sent to prison when she was a young girl.
She started dating 'street guys' when she was 17, but eventually met and married a stock broker, Joey Ferragamo.
She thought she had escaped the mobster lifestyle - until Ferregamo was jailed for stock fraud, which she describes as 'not a bad crime'.
Now she raises the couple's twins by herself, and is in the process of divorcing Ferregamo.
She also works as a sales representative for a juice company.
Facciolo is known as the 'sex kitten' of the group.
She said: '[When I visited prison] half the people I grew up with were all there, I felt like it was a reunion because everyone I knew was there.
'Family is everything. Without my mother, all the time I was alone, I would have been lost.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...sland.html
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