Italian American Foundation not amused by Master of None co-creator's 'degrading' Emmys allusion

'A reckless disregard for Italian Americans, citing films that portray Italian-Americans as violent, dim-witted, and involved with organized crime.'

(Getty)

Master of None co-creator Alan Yang called for more and smarter representation of Asian-Americans in TV and film at the Emmys on Sunday night, but in the process offended a lot of Italian-Americans by reinforcing the stereotype that they’re all “violent, dim-witted, and involved with organized crime”.

Accepting the prize for Outstanding Series Comedy Writing alongside Aziz Ansari, Yang said: "There’s 17 million Asian Americans in this country," Yang stated. "And 17 million Italian Americans. They have The Godfather, Goodfellas, Rocky, and The Sopranos. We’ve got Long Duk Dong [the infamous Sixteen Candles character].”

The NIAF acknowledged that he was trying to give a positive message, but aired its grievances over the analogy.

Tony Soprano often battled with bouts of depression (Channel 4)

“The National Italian American Foundation is disturbed by the very public degradation of Italian American history that was part of the 2016 Emmy Awards that aired last Sunday night,” said NIAF President John M. Viola in a statement released today, “where Mr. Alan Yang — in accepting his award for best writing in a comedy series — compared Italian American representations in film and television to portrayals of Asian Americans, pointing out that our populations are similar in size and yet we have much more representation in film and television.

“Mr. Yang then listed what he considered to be notable representations of Italian Americans in the entertainment industry citing Goodfellas, The Godfather, and The Sopranos.

“Mr. Yang’s comments, while meant to point out the under-representation of Asian Americans in film, ended up including a reckless disregard for Italian Americans by citing films that portray Italian-Americans as violent, dim-witted, and involved with organized crime — all three — and insensitive stereotypes that in no way reflect the lives of everyday Italian Americans.”