Ex mafia heads are drawing in millions of people on YouTube with stories about their past lives working for the mob.
As we all know, many people are deeply fascinated by the gangsters of old, as their stories have seen enormous success both on the big and the small screens. And now, some of these legendary mobsters are actually starting their own YouTube channels, which have seen incredible success in a short span of time.
For instance, Sammy ‘The Bull’ Gravano, the former underboss of the Gambino crime family who testified as a government witness in the prosecution of John Gott, has now more than 420,000 subscribers.
Michael Franzese, a former Capo in the Colombo crime family, has more than 700,000 subscribers stopping by to check out his reactions to mob films, among other things…
Meanwhile, Patrick Bet-David, an entrepreneur and YouTuber who has interviewed people like Gravano and Franzese, had a chat with The Independent about the ethics surrounding this kind of content on the platform, given its criminal, sometimes dark and brutal history.
“These stories are very compelling. You have people that listen to every word that comes out of their mouth. There’s an audience for it. They are both going to be million subscriber channels in no time,” he said.
Crime historian and author of Lucky Luciano: Mysterious Tales of a Gangland Legend, Christian Cipollini, told the outlet:
“The trend of former organised crime figures transitioning, or parlaying their experiences and notoriety into pop culture media isn’t really a new trend at all,” talking about earlier instances of book deals and movie adaptations.
“So in other words, if an opportunity exists – well, they’re opportunists. The YouTube era provides a contemporary media vehicle for contemporary mobsters. The only difference between the old era and now is technology, and perhaps the generational attitudes and differences.”
For a more in-depth look at the lives and stories of legendary mafia heads, you may want to check out Valuetainment’s new documentary, ‘Mafia States Of America.’
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