Michael Imperioli Rules That His Work Is Off-Limits To Bigots

The majority-conservative United States Supreme Court kicked off the Independence Day weekend in a less-than-festive way, and Michael Imperioli has some thoughts about it.

In two 6-3 decisions on Friday, the court ruled that President Joe Biden could not enact his (already modest) student loan forgiveness plan; and that businesses can use a free speech claim to discriminate against members of a protected class. 

In the latter case — which web designer Lorie Smith brought so that her refusal to build a site for a gay wedding could be legally sanctioned — reporting the day before the ruling revealed that one of the gay grooms Smith cited had never tried to hire her for any reason. 

It would be easy, reasonable, and correct to be angry that an entirely hypothetical situation invented by a homophobe acting in bad faith is now the law of the land. But Imperioli has found a way to use the ruling to his advantage.

On Saturday,  the native New Yorker and star of The White Lotus and The Sopranos, posted a screenshot from a news report on the ruling to his Instagram grid with an unambiguous caption:

“I’ve decided to forbid bigots and homophobes from watching The Sopranos, The White Lotus, Goodfellas or any movie or tv show I’ve been in. Thank you Supreme Court for allowing me to discriminate and exclude those who I don’t agree with and am opposed to. USA! USA!”

This is not the first time Imperioli has used his feed for good: in March, he posted an image of the transgender flag, captioned, “dear brothers, sisters and siblings. fear not, be strong and don’t let the bastards grind you down. love you.” 

He has subsequently deleted comments on the post, because — and this may shock you — idiots made some of them. However, the interactions were reported at the time by Josh Kurp at Uproxx. “Unfollowing,” wrote a user identified as “philip.the1st.” “you should,” Imperioli replied, “hurry up.”

If you are among the many lucky Imperioli fans to whom this ban does not apply, and you’ve already re-watched him in The Sopranos and The White Lotus, check him out on Hulu in This Fool; Season 2 arrives July 28.