Monday, February 13, 2012

Mob Wives: Karen Gravano on "The View"



The View only gave Karen about five minutes to cover her life, her show and her book. I was a little disappointed they didn't give her more time. They tried to cover a little of everything and I'll sum it up for those who missed it.

Karen suspected her father was a gangster when she was about ten years old. But when she heard the word gangster, it had a positive meaning to her because gangsters got respect and lived in big houses. When she was 19, her father, Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, turned informant. Karen was upset by that because it went against everything she was taught to believe and it ripped the world out from under her. She didn't understand at the time, why he was doing what he was doing by turning informant for the government, but she did much later. Sammy brought down the Gambino family and John Gotti. Karen is asked if she was scared or felt in danger. Karen said no, many people protected their family. At the same time, many family members and friend turned on them. 

Sammy was in the witness protection program for 6 months. He didn't like being away from his family and all the restrictions, so he signed himself out. They moved to Arizona where the whole family got involved with an ecstasy ring selling drugs. She says her father took the rap for the whole family and is serving 20 years. 

They ask Karen how Karina feels about the show and all the fighting? Karen says that in every fight she has been in on the show, it was always self defense. It's real fighting, not scripted. She teaches her daughter not to fight, but to stand up for herself if she needs to.

A new issue has emerged with the release of Karen's book. The families of the victims of Sammy Gravano are saying she is profiting from those murders and they want to be awarded the profits from the sale of her book. Karen responds by saying that she is not profiting from her father's crimes. The book is about her life, which has come full circle since she moved back to Staten Island.

Karen says that Mob Wives is about the struggles the women go through when their loved ones go to prison.

They aske Karen how do you reconcile your father with the crimes he committed? Karen has ten seconds to answer: "I loved him, he was my provider and my protector." The end!

Karen's Book is hitting store shelves tomorrow, so get your copy of Mob Daughter then!


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I wish they would have given her more time. Ugh. Thanks for the recap!