Michael Imperioli is taking a stand against the Supreme Court, which ruled Friday that conservative Christians have a right to refuse some business services to same-sex couples.
The “Sopranos” and “White Lotus” star declared Saturday on Instagram that he has “decided to forbid bigots and homophobes from watching The Sopranos, The White Lotus, Goodfellas or any movie or TV show” he’s ever appeared in.
Imperioli made his remarks after the Supreme Court sided with a Christian graphic artist from Colorado who didn’t want to design wedding websites for same-sex couples.
“Thank you Supreme Court for allowing me to discriminate and exclude those who I don’t agree with and am opposed to. USA! USA!” the 57-year-old actor wrote sarcastically.
In earnest, Imperioli added, “hate and ignorance is not a legitimate point of view … it’s called dehumanization.”
Imperioli is among multiple celebrities who slammed the majority-conservative Supreme Court this week after the group of nine justices voted 6-3 to permit Christians to refuse some services to same-sex couples; to ban race-based affirmative action policies at colleges and universities; and to block President Biden’s plan to forgive millions of student loans.
Others who responded publicly to the wedding-website case include “Star Trek” actor George Takei, “Angel” alum Charisma Carpenter, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” breakout Kandy Muse and “Watch What Happens Live” host Andy Cohen.
“In America, your right to exercise your religion doesn’t give you a right to discriminate,” Takei tweeted. “If your business is open to the public, you don’t retain some license to discriminate based on religious belief. Religious bigotry is still bigotry. SCOTUS should be ashamed.”
“I hope any business owner that wants to kick me out for being gay knows how to fight,” Kandy Muse tweeted, “cause I’m destroying your store on the way out.”
“Legalizing discrimination,” Cohen tweeted. “Incredible.”
Natasha Rothwell — who starred in the first season of “The White Lotus” before Imperioli was cast in Season 2 — tweeted, “This court must be stopped,” after the six conservative justices (Amy Coney Barrett, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh) ruled against mass student-loan forgiveness.
A number of entertainment luminaries also condemned the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action.
“If everyone was actually treated equally, we wouldn’t have had to put in affirmative action,” actor and comedian Whoopi Goldberg said on “The View.”
In a statement, former First Lady Michelle Obama pointed out that some students “have parents who graduated from the same school. Others have families who can afford coaches to help them run faster or hit a ball harder. Others go to high schools with lavish resources for tutors and extensive standardized test prep that help them score higher on college entrance exams.”
“We usually don’t question if those students belong,” Obama wrote.
“So often, we just accept that money, power, and privilege are perfectly justifiable forms of affirmative action, while kids growing up like I did are expected to compete when the ground is anything but level.”
