Michael Imperioli blasts Tony Sirico’s absence from Oscar In Memoriam

March 14, 2023

Imperioli also called Paul Sorvino and Tom Sizemore “brilliant actors” who were “forgotten by the Academy.”

Each year, the Academy Awards hold an in memoriam segment to honor the stars and Hollywood professionals who have lost their lives in the past year, and each time there is controversy after it seems that significant faces will be left out of the segment. “White Lotus” star Michael Imperioli is adding to his criticism of this year’s in memoriam, calling out the omission of former co-stars Tony Sirico, Paul Sorvino and Tom Sizemore.

“SORVINO, SIRICO and SIZEMORE”, Imperioli wrote in an Instagram post on Monday that featured headshots of all three actors. “These three brilliant actors were forgotten by the Academy last night at the Oscars. Proud and honored to have worked with all three men, and saddened that Hollywood overlooked them on their biggest night.”

Imperioli and Sirico worked together on all six seasons of the famous HBO mob drama “The Sopranos.” Imperioli played Christopher Moltisanti, while Sirico played the tight-lipped Paulie “Walnuts” Gualtieri. Imperioli and Sorvino both had supporting roles in Martin Scorsese’s 1990 gangster classic, Goodfellas. Sizemore and Imperioli appeared in two films together, 1990’s “A Matter of Degrees” and 1998’s “Witness to the Mob.”

Earlier on Monday, Sorvino’s daughter, actor Mira Sorvino, criticized her father’s absence from the Oscars, tweeting that it was “incredibly incomprehensible that my beloved father and so many other wonderful, brilliant departed actors were left out. The Oscars forgot about Paul Sorvino, but the rest of us never will!

In addition to Sorvino, Sirico and Sizemore, Anne Heche, Leslie Jordan, “Triangle of Sadness” stars Charlbi Dean, Barbara Walters, Cindy Williams, Melinda Dillon, Philip Baker Hall, Hugh Hudson, Peter Brook, Mike Hodges, George T. Miller, and Lisa Marie Presley was among those not represented in the In Memoriam section, which was introduced by John Travolta and played music by Lenny Kravitz. The segment ended with a QR code directing viewers to a page on the official Oscars website with a more complete list of recently deceased stars.

Check out Imperioli’s Instagram tribute to the three actors below.

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