Those are some fighting words.
Mario Cantone believes shows like “The Kardashians” and franchises like the “Real Housewives” are responsible for the demise of television – and our current political climate.
The “Sex and the City” star — who reprised his role as Charlotte’s best friend, Anthony, on “And Just Like That…” — blasted the fan-favorite programs in a new interview released on Wednesday.
After claiming he gets “asked to do reality shows all the time,” the actor, 62, told David Yontef on the “Behind the Velvet Rope” podcast that he “never saw an episode” of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” or “Housewives.”
“I don’t like it. I feel it’s ruined television. It has dumbed everything down,” he said of E!’s now-ended “KUWTK,” Hulu’s “The Kardashians” and Bravo’s multi-city “Real Housewives” conglomerate, which has birthed dozens of in-network spinoffs.
Cantone added, “I think it’s one of the reasons why [Donald] Trump was elected [United States president in 2016], because we have dumbed down, and people can’t turn away from those big mouths screaming at you. … No question. It has done this.”
The Italian-American Boston native – whose claim to fame is appearing on romantic comedy-dramas that fictionalize New York City experiences – then quoted late “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” author Truman Capote, who once said, “It’s a scientific fact that if you stay in California, you lose one point of your IQ every year.”
“So I feel that if you watch reality shows, that’s true,” Cantone told Yontef, claiming he left Los Angeles after realizing that he “thought [the 1982 sitcom] ‘Joanie Loves Chachi’ was actually a good show.”
“That’s when I knew I had to move back.”
When asked whether rumors that Andy Cohen once tried to convince him to star in a version of “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-list” were true, Cantone replied, “Yeah, he did. … And I love him, but I was like, ‘No, no, no.’”
“He wanted to bring in my Italian-American family ’cause I would do that in my stand-up,” Cantone elaborated.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m not gonna be responsible for making my mentally ill family famous. That’s not happening. I’m not stupid. There’s just no way.’”
Despite his aversion to reality TV, the actor made sure to note that he feels there is a big difference between “follow[ing people] around with a camera 24/7” and “talent competitions” like “The Masked Singer,” “Dancing with the Stars” and “American Idol.”
He told Yontef he’d be down to judge those types of shows but would not “wanna be a contestant.”
As he did back in 2015, Cantone also shied away from the thought of being a full-time co-host of “The View.”