Sit Down with Michael Franzese

🥘 Join Me in the kitchen for the cookbook release, a live conversation, and your best questions: http://cookbook.michaelfranzese.com/ 📲 Text me your thoughts about this Interview: https://my.community.com/michaelfranzese (424) 325 0921 People, my father asked me a question once in a prison visiting room. “Son, if you ever had to kill anybody — could you do it?” I’ll tell you what I said. And I’ll tell you why a new mob movie called Redemption made me think about it again.I sat down with the writer and director, Asif, and his cast. Jon Lemmon — Jack Lemmon’s grandson — plays the lead: a good kid who gets pulled into the life to help his father and ends up in deeper than he ever meant to. Weston Coppola — Francis Ford Coppola’s great-nephew — plays Jackson, the guy who brings him in. Two Hollywood names in one mob picture. The movie also has Robert Davi, Frank Stallone, and Jon Lovitz in a role he told the director he’s never played before. The story isn’t mine — but it’s close enough that I had some things to say.We get into why good people do bad things, what it actually costs to walk away from that life, the night I told my father I was quitting school to help him, and why I respect a film that shows the human side of the men I knew.The movie’s coming out in the next couple of months. I’ll tell you when. There’s a New Mob Movie — And a Coppola’s in It. Former Mob Boss Sits Down With ‘Redemption’ Cast 00:00 "Son, If You Had to Kill Somebody — Could You?"00:41 Welcome — A Mob Movie Premiere in Vegas03:17 How Hard It Is to Get a Movie Made05:31 Meet the Cast — A Coppola at My Table06:32 From Cleveland to Hollywood — The Director's Story07:23 Why Mob Movies Never Die09:57 Thank You for Showing the Good Side of That Life10:23 Why Do Good People Do Bad Things?13:16 The Day I Told My Father I Was Quitting School13:42 The Question My Father Asked Me14:02 When Violence Feels Justified18:28 The Real Informant Behind the Film20:53 1980s Cleveland — The World of the Movie22:36 Walking Away Feels Like Betraying Your People23:48 The Milano Family and the Cleveland Mob26:35 I Knew Joe Colombo — And I Loved "The Offer"29:18 My Father Lived to 10329:54 How Weston Got the Call35:25 Releasing a Film the Old-School Way37:24 The World Premiere in Las Vegas38:31 Written With This Cast in Mind39:03 Frank Stallone's Character Was Based on a Real Guy42:14 A Thousand People at the Premiere — What I Saw43:35 God Bless — See You Next Time #Redemption #MobMovie #Coppola #FrankStallone #MichaelFranzese 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christa Pike was supposed to be the first woman executed in Tennessee in 200 years. They strapped her to the gurney, started the execution — and she didn’t die. As of today, she’s alive, in a hospital, and talking. People, I read what she did. The torture of a 19-year-old girl. The skull fragment she kept. I’m not going to sugarcoat it — it’s demonic, and yes, she deserves to die. Even I’ll say that. But here’s where I’m going to lose some of you: the state still shouldn’t execute her. Not because of her. Because of the 203 people who’ve been freed from death row since 1973 — 145 of them because a prosecutor or a cop lied, framed them, or hid evidence. The death penalty isn’t for one person. It’s for everybody. And a civilized country cannot execute innocent people. We’re not Iran. We’re not China. I did eight years. I spent my first night in solitary thinking my life was over. Life without parole in a six-by-eight cell is not mercy, people. It’s severe punishment — and nobody ever gets exonerated from a grave. I also get into O.J., prosecutors who never pay for framing people, and what I think happens to Christa Pike now. Tell me where you stand. Keep it intelligent — we’re trying to have a real conversation here. 00:00 Christa Pike Survived Her Own Execution 00:22 Welcome — Shot Up With Phenobarbital and She Didn’t Die 01:03 Does This Woman Deserve to Die? 01:44 Satanic Murder Scene Still Haunts Police 31 Years Later 02:35 How They Lured Colleen Slemmer to Her Death 03:31 She Kept a Piece of Her Skull as a Trophy 04:41 Murder Is Murder. Torture Is Demonic. 05:29 Text Me — Should Christa Pike Die? 06:23 The Botched Execution — Where Things Stand Now 07:09 Yes, She Deserves to Die. No, the State Shouldn’t Execute Her. 07:38 The Death Penalty Isn’t for One Person. It’s for the Masses. 08:38 203 People Freed From Death Row Since 1973 09:26 My Father Was Framed — 50 Years for a Crime He Didn’t Commit 10:33 Execute an Innocent Person and There’s No Appeal 11:59 What If They Confess to the Crime? 13:26 The Same Stance I Took With OJ Simpson 14:34 Prove It Beyond a Reasonable Doubt or Set Them Free 14:54 Take Control of Your Money With Rumble Wallet 16:40 You Pay for It in This Life or the Next 17:20 Official Misconduct in 71% of Death Row Exonerations 18:21 What If It Were Your Family Member on Death Row? 19:31 Life Without Parole Is Not a Walk in the Park 20:01 My First Night in Solitary — I Thought My Life Was Over 20:56 Prosecutors Who Frame People Never Pay for It 21:38 They Have All the Money, Time and Power 23:22 DNA, Perjury and Doctored Forensics 24:59 If It Were My Daughter... 25:24 Redemption Doesn’t Erase Accountability 27:09 Will Tennessee Try to Execute Her Again? 27:53 My Position — End the Death Penalty 28:48 Thank You for Watching the Family Sit-Downs 31:12 My Brother John and I Are Building an Addiction Recovery Program 31:48 Big Things Coming This Holiday Season 32:18 Be Safe — A 7-Year-Old Girl Killed in Chicago 32:47 Ladies, Walk Next to Your Husband 33:15 Be Healthy — Why I Only Promote What I Believe In 33:51 God Bless America #ChristaPike #DeathPenalty #MichaelFranzese #TrueCrime #Tennessee Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People, this is it — the final sit-down with my brother John. Three weeks ago we went back to the house we grew up in. Last week he told you why he wore the wire. This week we go to the years in between: when my brother was in the life too, during the war, and our father was doing everything he could to get him made.John was five years sober when he went to see dad. Dad told him, “Son, I’m proud of you.” Took two steps. Then: “It’s a shame you ruined your whole life, though.” That’s our father. And if you knew him, you know he meant both.We get into the night they called John down to the club during the war — no gun, nobody there, and a captain telling him “your father can’t help you anymore.” What dad said from prison when John asked him what to do. The rumor our mother started in a visiting room that almost got our father hurt. The meeting at a lawyer’s office where dad tried to bring John in — and why it never happened. Chicky, Louie, Frankie, and some stories about dad that still make us laugh.And my brother says something in here I want you to hear: 24 years, and he hasn’t raised his hands or wished harm on a single person.I couldn’t sit down with my father anymore. So I sat down with his other son. If you’ve watched all three, thank you — this one was for us.Part 1 and Part 2 are linked below if you’re just finding this.#MichaelFranzese #JohnFranzese #SonnyFranzese #ColomboFamily #MobFamily Face to Face With My Brother — The Son Who Testified Against Our Father (Part 3) Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

📲 Text me your pick for top 10 richest mobsters: https://my.community.com/michaelfranzese (424) 325 0921 ✅ Take Control of Your Money and claim $10 in US Stablecoin (USD₮)! Download now at http://wallet.rumble.com/InnerCircle and use the code InnerCircle10. 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ In 1986, Fortune magazine put out a list of the 50 biggest mafia bosses in America — a Fortune 500 for my world. I was number 18. The youngest man on the list. I found out about it sitting in a federal prison in Arizona, when the lieutenant called me into his office and locked me down for a week over it. Here’s the thing, people — they got it wrong. Those were journalists guessing from the outside. They never saw the cash. They didn’t know who was kicking up to who. And in our world, the smartest earners were invisible on purpose. So today you’re getting the list they couldn’t write: the 10 richest mobsters of all time, ranked by a guy who was on the inside, knew how the money actually moved, and made the list himself. Capone, Lansky, Luciano, Costello, Carlo Gambino, Fat Tony, Marcello, Trafficante, Rothstein and Gotti — and I’ll tell you my number one and exactly why it’s not close. And yes, I answer the question you’re all going to ask: where would I rank on that list, and what it really cost me. Tell me in the comments who I got wrong — if somebody makes a good enough case, we’ll do a part two. Former Mob Boss Ranks the Top 10 Richest Mobsters Ever 00:00 The List Fortune Magazine Couldn't Write 00:52 1986 — They Locked Me Down Over That Article 02:18 I Was #18. The Youngest Man on the List. 02:44 Why They Got It Wrong 03:30 My Father's Reaction 05:08 Nobody Really Knows the Numbers — Here's Why 06:55 Arnold Rothstein — He Made Crime a Business 07:46 Al Capone — $100 Million in the 1920s 08:46 Lucky Luciano — The Architect 10:02 Meyer Lansky — "Bigger Than U.S. Steel" 11:02 Frank Costello — The One I Modeled Myself After 12:14 Carlo Gambino — The Richest Man You Never Heard About 13:34 Fat Tony Salerno — Fortune Said #1. I Disagree. 16:33 "Give These Mamalukes a Job" — My Day With Fat Tony 19:10 Carlos Marcello — Half of Louisiana Answered to Him 20:06 Santo Trafficante — The Mob's Foreign Minister 21:01 John Gotti — The Flash Is What Kills You 22:33 "What About You, Michael?" 23:06 The Jet, the Helicopter & the Houses 24:07 What It Actually Cost Me 26:15 My #1 — And It's Not Close 28:12 My #2 30:02 The Only Wealth That Lasts #Mafia #AlCapone #MeyerLansky #JohnGotti #MichaelFranzese #Mob #Top10 Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

📲 Text me your thoughts about this Interview: (424) 325 0921 People, I’ve told my story for over 30 years. Today you’re going to hear the side of it I couldn’t tell — because I didn’t live it. My brother John is finally at my table. Same house, same father, same life... seen from the other side. You may know his story — and believe me, we’re going to get to ALL of it — but it starts where WE started: growing up as Sonny Franzese’s sons. I can’t sit down with my father anymore. So this sit-down, with his other son, might be the most important one I ever do. John takes full responsibility for everything in his life — he’s never made excuses. And in this one he tells me things even I didn’t know: the truth about our mother — I say some things about her I’ve never said publicly — the night dad went to jail, the prison visits he hated, the day dad told him “there’s no shame in crying,” his 16-year war with addiction and the rehab he walked out of on day 88, our sister Gia, and the conversation where I begged our father to see what was happening to his son — and he couldn’t. This is Part 1 of 3. Part 2 drops next week — and that’s where we get into the part of John’s story you think you know. If you or someone you love is fighting addiction — my brother is living proof it can be beaten. Don’t give up on them. Face to Face With My Brother — The Son Who Testified Against Our Father (Part 1) #MichaelFranzese #JohnFranzese #SonnyFranzese #FranzeseFamily #Addiction #MobFamily Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🍷 Join me in the next video with a glass of wine: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ People, a couple of years ago I ranked mob movies and shows together — today, it’s TELEVISION ONLY. The top 10 organized crime shows ever made, ranked by a guy who lived what they filmed. I knew Joe Colombo personally. I knew the real guys these characters are based on. So when I tell you a show got it right — or got it dead wrong — I’m not guessing, people. I was there. All ten are on the board: the giant that started it all, the rawest Italian crime show ever put on TV, the one that isn’t even a mob show but HAD to make my list, an old-school deep cut most of you have never even heard of — and Tulsa King placed somewhere you wouldn't expect. I know some of you are going to blow me up for that. Good. Tell me why I’m wrong in the comments, give me YOUR number one, and tell me what I left off. And stick around after the rankings — I get into which shows actually capture the life, and my honest problem with how some of them use violence. Best and worst. No mercy. Salute.🍷 #TheSopranos #TulsaKing #Mafia #MobShows #PeakyBlinders #MichaelFranzese Former Mob Boss Ranks the Top 10 Mob TV Shows Ever Made 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices