Emmy-winning actor Michael Imperioli ("The Sopranos," "The White Lotus," "The Good Guys," "Fathers and Sons," "Law & Order," "Lucifer") comes out strongly against the U.S. Supreme Court's decision, declaring that it bans racists and homophobes from viewing his work.
The White Lotus Trailer Season 2 courtesy of HOT (Archive)
The fraught statement by Imperioli, 57, comes after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled over the weekend in favor of a Christian web designer who sought legal protection for refusing to design websites for same-sex couples because of her religious beliefs.
"I have decided to ban racists and homophobes from watching 'The Sopranos,' 'The White Lotus,' 'The Good Guys,' or any other series or movie I've been a part of," Imperioli wrote in an angry post shared Saturday night with his 311,<> Instagram followers as he filmed a story about the graphic designer's victory that drew his ire. "Thank you, Supreme Court, for allowing me to discriminate and exclude those with whom I disagree and oppose," he added sarcastically, concluding with chants of "United States, United States."
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Following a debate that ensued in the comments on the post, which quickly garnered tens of thousands of likes and thousands of comments, Imperioli sought to clarify his position again, writing that hatred and ignorance are not legitimate opinions and that America is becoming an increasingly stupid superpower every minute.
Imperioli's angry post follows one of two dramatic conservative Supreme Court rulings on Friday that sparked outrage among liberals in the United States.
Michael Imperioli, Photo: YouTube
In a ruling referenced by Imperioli in the Post, a majority of the six conservative justices on the bench versus the three liberal justices ruled that the constitutional right established by law with regard to freedom of speech allows for some discrimination by businesses against same-sex couples.
The ruling followed a petition filed by website designer Laurie Smith, who belongs to the evangelical Christian denomination. Smith sought to protest Colorado's 2016 anti-discrimination law, which banned discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, among other things, and obtained an exception to the law so she would not be required to design websites for same-sex couples seeking marriage. The court upheld her explosive request, which sparked outrage online and offline, with the state of Colorado, backed by various civil rights groups, warning that the ruling could legalize businesses to discriminate not only on the basis of sexual orientation but also on the basis of religion and nationality in groups that include blacks, Jews, Muslims or immigrants.
Michael Imperioli in The White Lotus, Photo by Fabio Lovino/HBO Courtesy of yes
"The ruling is a 'license to discriminate' and for the first time in U.S. history, the court gives businesses a constitutional right to refuse services to members of a protected group," liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the dissenting opinion.
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