Joey Buttafuoco
Encyclopedia
Joseph A. "Joey" Buttafuoco (born March 11, 1956) is an auto body shop owner from the USA, notable for his affair
with Amy Fisher
(born August 21, 1974), who subsequently shot Joey's wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco (born May 15, 1955), in the face.
, Mary Jo survived the shooting and was able to give a description of her assailant and the t-shirt Fisher showed her. The t-shirt, with the "Complete Auto Body & Fender" logo of Buttafuoco's auto body shop
in Baldwin
, Nassau County
, was a gift from Buttafuoco to Fisher. Buttafuoco realized the implications of the description and accused Fisher as the shooter.
and served six months in jail. He and his wife later moved to California
, divorcing on February 3, 2003.
and Vinnie Paul. Shortly after the case surfaced, Andrew Dice Clay
invited Buttafuoco to appear in one of his stand-up routines. Buttafuoco, a Dice Clay fan, first agreed, but later declined after accepting legal advice. 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. Buttafuoco, despite being booed, won the fight in a majority decision (29–28, 29–27, 28–28). In 2006, he and Amy Fisher were reunited at the Lingerie Bowl
for the coin toss. In a story reported in the New York Post, reality show producer David Krieff suggested that Buttafuocco and Fisher were currently "dating" again, although this was not supported by any direct statements from either Buttafuoco or Fisher. On May 23, 2007 Mary Jo Buttafuocco appeared on CNN's Larry King Live program to discuss the recent reunion of her ex-husband and the former "Long Island Lolita." 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.
Joey Buttafuoco appeared on the Judge Jeanine Pirro
show on March 5, 2009 to dispute a call girl
who refused 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.
In his last year of hosting (1993) Late Night with David Letterman
on NBC
, talk show host David Letterman
adopted Buttafuoco's last name as a recurring punchline.
In 1993, Madonna ripped up his photo during her performance on Saturday Night Live declaring, "Fight the real enemy!" (A reference to Sinead O'Connor's controversial "ripping" of Pope John Paul II's photo on the show).
in the late 1980s. He and Patrick Flannery played henchmen who had to rough up Frank Runyeon's character (Steve Andropoulos) during a fight scene.
Buttafuoco made his film debut as a cab driver in Cul-de-Sac (video title: Better Than Ever), by the Nigeria
n-born filmmaker Uzo
. He subsequently appeared in The Underground Comedy Movie, Mafia Movie Madness, Skin Walker, and Operation Repo: The Movie.
show dedicated to personal recovery topics.
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
with Amy Fisher
Amy Fisher
Amy Elizabeth Fisher is an American woman who became known as "the Long Island Lolita" by the media in 1992, when, at the age of 17, she shot and severely wounded Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of her lover Joey Buttafuoco...
(born August 21, 1974), who subsequently shot Joey's wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco (born May 15, 1955), in the face.
Incident
Buttafuoco had an affair with Amy Fisher, who subsequently shot Joey's wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco, in the face, on May 19, 1992. Although deafened in one ear and her face partially paralyzedParalysis
Paralysis is loss of muscle function for one or more muscles. Paralysis can be accompanied by a loss of feeling in the affected area if there is sensory damage as well as motor. A study conducted by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, suggests that about 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed...
, Mary Jo survived the shooting and was able to give a description of her assailant and the t-shirt Fisher showed her. The t-shirt, with the "Complete Auto Body & Fender" logo of Buttafuoco's auto body shop
Automobile repair shop
An automobile repair shop is a place where automobiles are repaired by auto mechanics and electricians.- Types :The automotive garage can be divided in so many category....
in Baldwin
Baldwin, Nassau County, New York
Baldwin is a hamlet located in the town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 24,033 at the 2010 census.Baldwin is also a station on the Babylon Branch of the Long Island Rail Road....
, Nassau County
Nassau County, New York
Nassau County is a suburban county on Long Island, east of New York City in the U.S. state of New York, within the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,339,532...
, was a gift from Buttafuoco to Fisher. Buttafuoco realized the implications of the description and accused Fisher as the shooter.
Aftermath
Buttafuoco pled guilty to one count of statutory rapeStatutory rape
The phrase statutory rape is a term used in some legal jurisdictions to describe sexual activities where one participant is below the age required to legally consent to the behavior...
and served six months in jail. He and his wife later moved to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, divorcing on February 3, 2003.
Unrelated charges
Buttafuoco has been charged with crimes on numerous occasions since the Amy Fisher incident.- In 1995, he pled no contest to a solicitationSolicitationLiterally, solicitation means: 'urgently asking'. It is the action or instance of soliciting; petition; proposal. In criminal law, it most commonly refers to either the act of offering goods or services, or the act of attempting to purchase such goods or services...
of prostitutionProstitutionProstitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
charge and was fined and placed on probation for two years. - In 2004, he was sentenced to a year in jail and five years of probationProbationProbation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
after pleading guilty to auto insurance fraudInsurance fraudInsurance fraud is any act committed with the intent to fraudulently obtain payment from an insurer.Insurance fraud has existed ever since the beginning of insurance as a commercial enterprise. Fraudulent claims account for a significant portion of all claims received by insurers, and cost billions...
. - In August 2005, he was charged with illegal possession of ammunitionAmmunitionAmmunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
owing to his convicted felon status. Probation officers found the ammunition during a search of his home. He pled no contestNolo contendereis a legal term that comes from the Latin for "I do not wish to contend." It is also referred to as a plea of no contest.In criminal trials, and in some common law jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an alternative to a pleading of...
and began serving his sentence on January 8, 2007. He was released on April 28, 2007.
Media appearances
The significant coverage of the Amy Fisher incident made Buttafuoco a minor celebrity. In the late 1990s when he was on trial, Buttafuoco was invited to a bar by Pantera musicians Dimebag DarrellDimebag Darrell
Darrell Lance Abbott , also known as Diamond Darrell and Dimebag Darrell, was an American guitarist. He was best known as a founding member of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan. Abbott also contributed to the album Rebel Meets Rebel, a collaboration between Pantera and David Allan Coe...
and Vinnie Paul. Shortly after the case surfaced, Andrew Dice Clay
Andrew Dice Clay
Andrew Dice Clay is an American comedian and actor who played the lead role in the film The Adventures of Ford Fairlane.Clay has been in several movies and has released a number of stand-up albums...
invited Buttafuoco to appear in one of his stand-up routines. Buttafuoco, a Dice Clay fan, first agreed, but later declined after accepting legal advice. In 2002, he participated in the Fox Network's Celebrity Boxing
Celebrity Boxing
Celebrity Boxing was a FOX television show, in which celebrities whose careers and/or notoriety had diminished were pitted against each other in exhibition boxing matches. The contestants wore headgear during the fights, which were scheduled for three rounds apiece...
, originally slated to oppose John Wayne Bobbitt
John and Lorena Bobbitt
John Wayne Bobbitt and Lorena Bobbitt were an American couple, married on June 18, 1989, whose difficult relationship gained worldwide notoriety for an incident in 1993 when Lorena severed John's penis with a knife...
, who dropped out due to being arrested for domestic abuse. Bobbitt was replaced by female pro wrestler Joanie "Chyna" Laurer. Buttafuoco, despite being booed, won the fight in a majority decision (29–28, 29–27, 28–28). In 2006, he and Amy Fisher were reunited at the Lingerie Bowl
Lingerie Bowl
The Lingerie Bowl is an annual Super Bowl halftime alternative shown on pay-per-view TV. It features a game of full-contact American football with female athletes playing seven-on-seven tackle football. Lingerie Bowl I aired during Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004 with Team Euphoria losing to the Team...
for the coin toss. In a story reported in the New York Post, reality show producer David Krieff suggested that Buttafuocco and Fisher were currently "dating" again, although this was not supported by any direct statements from either Buttafuoco or Fisher. On May 23, 2007 Mary Jo Buttafuocco appeared on CNN's Larry King Live program to discuss the recent reunion of her ex-husband and the former "Long Island Lolita." 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.
Joey Buttafuoco appeared on the Judge Jeanine Pirro
Judge Jeanine Pirro
Judge Jeanine Pirro is an American reality series that debuted on The CW on September 22, 2008...
show on March 5, 2009 to dispute a call girl
Call girl
A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who is not visible to the general public; nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency...
who refused 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.
In his last year of hosting (1993) Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, talk show host David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
adopted Buttafuoco's last name as a recurring punchline.
In 1993, Madonna ripped up his photo during her performance on Saturday Night Live declaring, "Fight the real enemy!" (A reference to Sinead O'Connor's controversial "ripping" of Pope John Paul II's photo on the show).
Film and TV career
Buttafuoco made his television debut as an "under-five" on As the World TurnsAs the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
in the late 1980s. He and Patrick Flannery played henchmen who had to rough up Frank Runyeon's character (Steve Andropoulos) during a fight scene.
Buttafuoco made his film debut as a cab driver in Cul-de-Sac (video title: Better Than Ever), by the Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
n-born filmmaker Uzo
Uzo
Uzo is a Nigerian-American filmmaker and graphic artist. He has made two feature films, Walls & Bridges and Better Than Ever...
. He subsequently appeared in The Underground Comedy Movie, Mafia Movie Madness, Skin Walker, and Operation Repo: The Movie.
Radio career
Buttafuoco hosts a live talk radioTalk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
show dedicated to personal recovery topics.
External links
- Mary Jo Buttafuoco released a tell-all memoir, which was widely covered by the media, July, 2009
- Mary Jo Buttafuoco tells her story on The Oprah Winfrey Show
- Joey Buttafuoco hosting radio talk show on the Let's Talk Recovery network every Wednesday evening
- Red Light District to Distribute Joey Buttafuoco Sex Video, Reuters, 7 January 2008