‘Sopranos’ star Drea de Matteo slams cancel culture as ‘volatile and vile’: ‘Why is everyone so mad?’
“Sopranos” star Drea de Matteo is slamming cancel culture and its effects on society.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, the Ultrafree founder called online hatred “volatile and vile.”
“Stop canceling everybody,” Drea said. “You know what I also can’t relate to — because I’ve seen some people send me, like, real, nasty hate stuff on the internet that people have said about me just for fun and — it’s not just about me. It’s about anybody in the world.
“Why is everybody so angry? Like, why is everyone so mad? Why can’t we get back to a place where we really do want to see people do well and feel included and not be destroyed constantly by people sitting behind computers?
“The cancel culture thing couldn’t be more volatile and vile and — again, how do you use these words, how do you use this inclusivity? — and it just doesn’t make sense at all,” she continued. “So, it only works for a moment in time when it’s convenient, and it’s not going on across the board.”
De Matteo has launched a streetwear brand that helps “promote free speech.” Matteo told Fox News Digital her brand, Ultrafree, was created after a series of events over the last three years.
“Let’s start with a lockdown, and then let’s start with mandates — not being able to work,” she said. “Heroes becoming zeros. I mean, you name it, every ideology that sort of got pushed forward.
“It seems like that’s been hijacked to a degree, like the whole idea of democracy. And I think a lot of the ideologies that sort of got pushed forward were never meant to free anybody.”
De Matteo said the idea for her brand wasn’t inspired by politics, but the idea was to unite people despite their political beliefs.
“This is about you and me as people, as human beings,” she said. “I feel like politics should take a back seat at this point, and everybody needs to sort of come together and recognize there’s a war on the truth and on humanity and on what really unites us.
“There are more things that unite us than divide us.”
One of de Matteo’s biggest inspirations to start her streetwear brand was from her son due to his love for streetwear and overall curiosity about what is going on in the world.
De Matteo, who starred as Adriana La Cerva on “The Sopranos,” shares her daughter Alabama Gypsyrose Jennings and son Waylon Albert “Blackjack” Jennings with musician Shooter Jennings.
De Matteo launched Ultrafree earlier this month, and her streetwear brand includes clothing items, such as hats, T-shirts and sweatshirts. Her favorite item from the line is a hat that isn’t being sold just yet. It says, “ULTRA F —ING FREE.”
“Even if I’m not wearing a hat that day, I have to bring it with me everywhere I go. And everybody wants them. And we haven’t started selling them yet.”
De Matteo noted that everything is made by hand in a printing studio in her home.
“There will be a lot of limited-run items. And it’s such super streetwear. It’s all heavy prints and big bold. … You can see everything now [on the website], and it is about, you know, it’s about having a good time. It’s not about politics, but it is about making freedom cool again.
“I mean, that’s kind of what we say. Like, let’s make freedom cool again. Let’s make it rock and roll. What happened? Freedom is a four-letter word. This is a right.”
