Video of James Gandolfini assaulting amateur photographer

James Gandolfini is one of those guys that – while I’m sure he can and generally is a very nice man – I’d definitely avoid should I run into him in real life. The line between television and reality is very blurry for a lot of those “Sopranos” actors, and many of them have rumored mob ties. And because I didn’t watch the show more than handful of times, I can’t really keep them straight, so I figure it’s best to just steer clear altogether. And there’s just something about Gandolfini that says, “Eyy, I’m a nice guy, but you piss me off just by having an ugly face and I’m gonna break your jaw.”

Excellent example of why I’m always right: an amateur photographer for the website Guest of a Guest got into it with James, after the guy filmed him for too long on Halloween. Gandolfini cursed at him repeatedly, then smacked his camera to the ground. Naturally, the whole thing ended up on the interweb.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again…I wouldn’t wish celebrity fame on my worst enemy. It has to be hard being followed all of the time, and I would imagine it becomes only a matter of time before one would snap. Unfortunately, for a Guest of a Guest photographer, the moment Sopranos star James Gandolfini snapped happened to be on his watch. On Halloween, in the West Village, Gandolfini assaulted our camera man. Watch video above. …below [is] the full story from our photographer:

“I was getting ready to go out for the night to shoot the Halloween parade and then was planning to go shoot the rose bar for you. I was walking up Jane Street towards the parade route, when I saw James trick or treating with his son and some other people. I decided to shoot some video of him, his son was inside a botique trick or treating, jim was standing outside.

I was maybe 25 feet away from him when he saw me. he then rushed towards me and pushed me into the street, then he took a swing at me and knocked the camera down. The person yelling get away from my son, was not my mom, but james ex-wife telling me to get away from her son. Then after the camera cut off, I tried to walk away, I got tackled from behind by one of his companions, right in the middle of the street, he was trying to steal my video away and ripped my jacket he tore away my still camera and it fell to the ground and broke. I then managed to break free and run back to my hotel.”

[From Guest of a Guest]

Page Six has a slightly different version of the story:

Don’t mess with James Gandolfini when he’s boutique-hopping. The “Sopranos” star got into a spat with an amateur paparazzo while shopping with his step-mom on Jane Street. In video of the incident posted by the fotog on Guest of a Guest, a mad Gandolfini sneers, “You understand me? I’m gonna break your [bleep]ing face,” before smacking the camera to the ground. The lensman tells us, “I’m not used to this type of abuse. I was not shooting James for any job, but just because I am a fan of his. The attack was totally uncalled for.” A friend of Gandolfini says, “The kid had been following him for an hour. He was a stalker.”

[From the New York Post]

The difference in the details (who he was out with, one person or many, shopping in boutiques versus trick-or-treating in boutiques [common NYC Halloween practice) isn’t massively important. What does make a difference is the addition of James’ son. In Guest of a Guest’s version, James was out with his son trick-or-treating, and the photographer says he was taping them. He didn’t mention that to the NY Post. I’m not saying that makes Gandolfini’s reaction okay, but it does explain it. Most people are protective of their children, and celebrities are particularly sensitive to their kids being filmed without permission. Especially when they’re out just doing their regular things. It’s not like James was at an event, he was taking his son trick-or-treating.

Celebrities live a different lifestyle in New York than they do in Los Angeles. They blend in more and are followed less. Most every New Yorker runs into someone famous now and again. A few months ago Wolf Blitzer alerted me to the fact that I had ice cream on my nose. Mortifying. They don’t have huge entourages around them or a bunch of security. And you mostly just end up thinking, “Hey, they’re a regular person. Awesome.” So I can understand why being filmed would be unexpected and upsetting. I am absolutely not excusing it, but I can understand where the anger came from.

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