Tony Bennett has entered the chat.
The “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” singer found himself in a discourse familiar to anyone on Twitter by, reportedly, disliking Martin Scorsese’s work. The 78-year-old Scorsese has been a lightning rod controversy since he said superhero movies weren’t cinema in 2019. The world hasn’t been the same since.
Smart enough to avoid offering these opinions on Twitter, Bennett spoke through a surrogate, one who is impervious to the slings and arrows of mere mortals: Lady Gaga. The singer delivered Bennett’s hottest take next to Scorsese’s fellow auteur Ridley Scott at a screening of her and Scott’s new film House Of Gucci. Very clever of Gaga to do this in a place where she can’t be ratio’d. Very clever, indeed.
Bennett’s reasoning, well, to quote The Sopranos’s Silvio Dante, “It’s anti-Italian discrimination.” Though, we’re pretty sure that Silvio loves Marty, even if Marty’s not a big Sopranos fan. We kid. Bennett doesn’t like the way Italian Americans are portrayed as criminals.
“He famously talks about his distaste for Marty Scorsese’s films,” she said. “How much he dislikes the way that Italians are portrayed in crime. Tony does not fully talk to me about this right now [because of] the state that he’s in [with Alzheimer’s], which is probably best for me, but I’ve tried to explain it to him.”
Bennett, who, God bless him, turned 95 this year, just released his 61st and final album Love For Sale, his second collaboration with Lady Gaga, in September. The album actually broke a Guinness World Record, making Bennett the oldest person to release an album of new material.
If he doesn’t like Martin Scorsese’s movies, you know what, he’s entitled to his opinion. He’s earned it.