Joey Buttafuoco

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Joey Buttafuoco

Born March 11, 1957(1957-03-11)
Massapequa, New York
Occupation Auto Body Shop Owner

Joseph "Joey" Buttafuoco (born March 11, 1956) is an American auto mechanic who made headlines in 1992 for his affair with then underage Amy Fisher (born August 21, 1974), who subsequently shot Joey's wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco (born May 15, 1955),[1] in the face. Although deafened in one ear and her face partially paralyzed, Mary Jo survived the shooting and was able to give a description of a t-shirt her assailant had been wearing. The t-shirt, emblazoned with the "Complete Auto Body & Fender" logo of Buttafuoco's auto body shop in Baldwin, Nassau County, New York, had been a gift from Joey to Fisher. Joey Buttafuoco realized the implications of the description and accused Fisher as the shooter.

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[edit] Background

Fisher served seven years in Albion Correctional Facility for the crime. Buttafuoco pleaded guilty to one count of statutory rape and served six months in jail.[2] He and his wife later moved to California, divorcing on February 3, 2003.[3]

According to a March 25, 2008 interview with Buttafuoco on the Drew and Mike radio show (101.1 WRIF Detroit), Fisher was actually carrying the t-shirt with the logo of Buttafuoco's body shop on it. She threw the shirt at Mary Jo after she shot her. The shirt was actually a gift from Buttafuoco to Fisher's father, with whom Joey was good friends.

Buttafuoco has been charged with crimes on numerous occasions since the Amy Fisher incident.

  • In 1995, he pleaded no contest to a solicitation of prostitution charge and was fined and placed on probation for two years.[4]
  • In 2004, he was sentenced to a year in jail and five years of probation after pleading guilty to auto insurance fraud.
  • In August 2005, he was charged with illegal possession of ammunition due to his convicted felon status. Probation officers found the ammunition during a search of his home. He pleaded no contest and began serving his sentence on Jan. 8, 2007.[5] He was released on April 28, 2007.[6]

[edit] Media appearances

The significant coverage of the Amy Fisher incident made Buttafuoco a minor celebrity. In 2002, he participated in the Fox Network's Celebrity Boxing, originally slated to oppose John Wayne Bobbitt, who dropped out due to being arrested for domestic abuse. Bobbitt was replaced by female pro wrestler Joanie "Chyna" Laurer.[7] Buttafuoco, despite being booed, won the fight in a majority decision (28–27, 29–27, 28–28), with replays indicating that Buttafuoco handily defeated Chyna, even giving her a swollen eye.[8] In 2006, he and Amy Fisher were reunited at the Lingerie Bowl for the coin toss.[9] In a story reported in the New York Post, reality show producer David Krieff suggests Buttafucco and Fisher are currently "dating" again, although this is not supported by any direct statements from either Buttafuoco or Fisher.[10] On May 23, 2007 Mary Jo Buttafucco appeared on CNN's Larry King Live program to discuss the recent reunion of her ex-husband and the former "Long Island Lolita."[11] Joey Buttafuoco and Mary Jo Buttafuoco have been regular guests of The Howard Stern Show since 1992. However, despite many news articles reporting his rumored romance with Fisher, Buttafuoco's second wife, Evanka, withdrew her divorce petition on June 22, 2007, and apparently has reconciled with him.[12]

Joey Buttafuoco appeared on the Judge Jeanine Pirro show on March 5, 2009 to dispute a call girl who refuses to pay for car repairs. The call girl, "Peaches", had — after repairs were completed — requested to pay for the work with sex, instead of the $4,700 owed for the repairs to her Corvette. Joey won his settlement.

[edit] Film career

Buttafuoco made his film debut as a cab driver in Cul-de-Sac (video title: Better Than Ever), by the Nigerian-born filmmaker Uzo. He subsequently appeared in Finding Forrester, The Underground Comedy Movie, Mafia Movie Madness, Skin Walker, and Operation Repo: The Movie.

[edit] Radio career

Buttafuoco hosts a live talk radio show dedicated to recovery topics.

[edit] In popular culture

Buttafuoco has been the butt of jokes several comedy TV shows. On an episode of Saturday Night Live, Madonna tore up a picture of Buttafuoco, stomped on it then, then shouted "Fight the real enemy!". (This was an obvious reference to a previous SNL incident, in which Sinéad O'Connor tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II).

Buttafuoco was referenced in an episode of television sitcom Friends, "The One with Rachel's New Dress", by Chandler. He was also referenced in the Beavis and Butt-head episode "Politically Correct". The duo was watching a made-for-TV movie entitled Joey Buttawipo: My Story. The plot of the episode "Inappropriate" of the series NewsRadio revolves around the way the station should handle reporter Matthew Brock's mispronunciations of Buttafuoco's name, cited in the episode of "possibly the worst one he could have made." Buttafuoco was referenced in an episode of Son of the Beach; when Notch and B.J. are in an animal trophy room, they see his head mounted on a wall, to which Notch states, "I wondered what happened to him."

Buttafuoco's last name became an ongoing joke with David Letterman during his last season as host of NBC's Late Night. He would repeat the name on his show at every opportunity. When Letterman switched to CBS, one of his first jokes on his first broadcast as host of The Late Show with David Letterman was, "I had a pretty good summer, kinda relaxing. I think I must have gone two months now without saying 'Buttafuoco.' So I'm rested!" Later on the show, Letterman's guest, Vice President Al Gore, claimed that his Secret Service code name was "Buttafuoco."

In the Family Guy episode "The Thin White Line", Letterman's ongoing joke is parodied, as Peter, dressed as the talk show host, claims that a woman hated his tie, "until I told her it was made out of 100% Buttafuoco fiber." It is also parodied in an episode of The Critic, "Sherman of Arabia", in which Letterman presents the top three reasons for why Jay Sherman is lost in the desert, the number one reason simply being "Buttafuoco, Buttafuoco, Buttafuoco!".

Buttafuoco's pants are referenced in a 'How I Met Your Mother' episode, in which Marshall has pants that remind Robin of Buttafuco and she says she doesn't want a 16 year old going psycho and shooting Lily in the face.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Joey Buttafuoco at the Internet Movie Database
  2. ^ "Joey Buttafuoco - Celebrity Mug Shot". Charles Montaldo. http://crime.about.com/library/blbuttafuoco.htm. Retrieved on 2006-07-24. 
  3. ^ "Joey Buttafuoco, wife getting divorce". AP. http://www.usatoday.com/life/2003-05-06-buttafuoco-divorce_x.htm. Retrieved on 2006-07-24. 
  4. ^ "CHRONICLE". Nadine Brozan. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE3D61F30F93BA35754C0A963958260&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fP%2fProstitution. Retrieved on 2006-07-24. 
  5. ^ "Joey B. gets a break". Associated Press. http://www.post-trib.com/entertainment/123160,JoeyB.article. Retrieved on 2006-11-04. 
  6. ^ "Joey Buttafuoco Ends Calif. Jail Term". AP/sfgate.com. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/04/29/national/a001458D77.DTL. Retrieved on 2007-05-09. 
  7. ^ "Celeb Boxing: Bobbitt Out, Chyna In". Josh Grossberg. http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,9957,00.html. Retrieved on 2006-07-24. 
  8. ^ "Fox's dull 'Celebrity Boxing' far from being a knockout". Tim Cuprisin. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=45521. Retrieved on 2006-07-24. 
  9. ^ "Joey Buttafuoco and Amy Fisher Reunion Will Be a Coin-Tosser at The Lingerie Bowl". SOURCE Horizon Productions. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-01-2006/0004273046&EDATE=. Retrieved on 2006-07-24. 
  10. ^ "Amy and Joey set date for love". New York Post. http://www.nypost.com/seven/05132007/news/regionalnews/amy__joey_set_date_for_love_regionalnews_james_fanelli_and_david_k__li.htm. 
  11. ^ "Larry King Live Announcement". http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/larry.king.live/. 
  12. ^ Crowley, Kieran (June 22, 2007). "Buttafuoco wife nixes divorce bid". New York Post. http://www.nypost.com/seven/06222007/news/regionalnews/buttafuoco_wife_nixes_divorce_bid_regionalnews_kieran_crowley.htm. Retrieved on 2008-01-04. 

[edit] External links


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