PhillyMag.com | Joey Merlino: “John Gotti was a good man. The best!” (“John Jr. is a rat.”)
Chris Kasparoza Philadelphia Magazine published a “sprawling interview” with accused former Philadelphia mob boss Joey Merlino, written by Victor Fiorillo, on May 21, 2025, titled:
Joey Merlino Would Like to Get Some Things Off His Chest
In the story, Fiorillo asked, and quoted Merlino saying:
Fiorillo: “Most organized crime figures have stayed out of the spotlight, avoiding attention and press. One notorious exception was John Gotti. And then you, whom the press dubbed the John Gotti of Passyunk Avenue.”
Merlino: “That was a compliment! John Gotti was a good man. The best!”
Read the story at: PhillyMag.com/News/2025/05/21/Joey-Merlino-Interview-Cheesesteaks/
While of course, keeping in mind, that while Joey Merlino is fond of John Gotti Sr., the reputed former boss of the Gambino crime family— he has ridiculed his son John Gotti Jr. on his podcast, The Skinny with Joey Merlino and Lil Snuff, where he labeled him “a rat.”
Watch a clip of Joey Merlino calling John Gotti Jr. “a rat” on his podcast below:
