American Psyop – 90s Edition (The Long Island Lolita Hoax)

I’ve decided to post summaries on what I consider to be the Top 10 hoaxes of the 90s. This absurd and lurid tale came in at #10. The follow-up at #9 will be the Olympic Park Bombing.

In the summer of 1992, Long Island – a land known for big hair and even bigger attitudes – became ground zero for a love triangle so absurd it felt like an R-rated after-school special gone wrong – an intricate mix of media hysteria, suburban drama, and one too many perms.  Enter Amy Fisher, a semi-fictional 17-year-old femme fatale/high schooler whose hobbies included wielding a .25-caliber handgun and teasing middle-aged men – when she wasn’t busy teasing her hair. 

In this grand illusion, the supposed affair between a teenage seductress and a washed-up auto body shop owner (millionaires? Forgetaboutit!) was the centerpiece of a tragic love triangle that ended in a botched assassination attempt.  A tall tale with all the elements of a failed soap opera pilot.

Hilariously…I mean tragically, Amy showed up at the Buttafuoco home and put a bullet in Mary Jo Buttafuoco, Joey’s wife, under the misguided assumption that this would clear the path for their forbidden love.  Unfortunately…i mean miraculously, Mary Jo survived the shooting and lived to tell the tale on every talk show known to man.

The media, always eager to spew lies and propaganda,  had a field day, dubbing Amy the “Long-Island Lolita”.  Joey, never one to miss a chance at clinging to fame, later tried his hand at Hollywood (because of course he did), while Amy “wrote” books, went through a reinvention (story) arc, and eventually emerged as the most “seemingly” well-adjusted person from the entire debacle.

And so, the Long Island Lolita became the 90s ultimate urban legend, at least until Bobbit the Butcher.  Just another scandal that never really happened but still managed to define the early 90s.

• 1992: TV Movie “Amy Fisher: My Story” released
• 1993: TV Movie “Casualties of Love” starring Alyssa Milano released
• 1993: TV Movie “The Amy Fisher Story” starring Drew Barrymore released
• 1993: “Amy Fisher: My Story” book released
• 1995:  Joey Buttafuoco pleads no contest to a solicitation of prostitution charge
• 1997:  Joey Buttafuoco appears on Judge Judy
• 2002:  Joey Buttafuoco participated in “Celebrity Boxing”
• 2004: Amy Fisher releases book, “If I Knew Then…”
• 2004:  Joey Buttafuoco pleads guilty to auto insurance fraud
• 2005:  Joey Buttafuoco charged with illegal possession of ammunition
• 2006:  Fisher reunites with Mary Jo Buttafuoco for Entertainment Tonight
• 2006: Fisher and Joey Buttafuoco officiate the coin-toss at the Lingerie Bowl
• 2006:  Mary Jo Buttafuoco undergoes extensive “beneficial” plastic surgery procedures
• 2007:  Amy Fisher sex tape is released
• 2008:  Fisher appears on The Howard Stern Show to promote her sex tape
• 2009:  Fisher releases a pay-per-view adult film – Amy Fisher: Totally Nude & Exposed
• 2009:  Joey Buttafuoco appeared on “Judge Pirro” successfully suing an adult film actress
• 2009:  Mary Jo Buttafuoco published a book titled, “Getting It Through My Thick Skull”
• 2010:  The adult film, “Deep Inside Amy Fisher” is released
• 2011:  Fisher appears as a cast member on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew
• 2021: First and only episode of Amy Fisher TV Show: “Kill for Me” released
• 2024: “Lethal Lolita: A True Story…” book released

Amy “looks back on those dark times and I never thought I’d get to the place I am today. The ‘Long Island Lolita’ is not really who I am.”

So who and what are you Amy? My list would include liar, manipulator, porn slut, corporate shill and media whore. You go, girl!