Griselda Blanco’s Only Living Son Slams ‘Crazy’ Ideas About His Mom’s Looks (2024)

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Sofia Vergara underwent hours in the makeup chair to transform into the infamous Cocaine Godmother, but the drug lord’s IRL son has drawn issues with how Netflix portrayed Griselda Blanco young. Michael Corleone Blanco is the Colombian cartel leader’s only remaining son of four offspring—the other three died prematurely and two are speculated to have been murdered.

Vergara stars and is the executive producer ofGriselda,which follows Blanco’s moveto the United States from Colombia as she created one of the most powerful cartels in history; as well as her great involvement in the Miami Drug Waror theCocaine Cowboy Wars. The show also stars Alberto Guerra, Christian Tappan, Martín Rodríguez, Juliana Aidén Martinez, Vanessa Ferlito, and Karol G making her on-screen debut.

Vergara talked about how she wanted to paint Blanco as a complex character who was both a matriarch in her family and a cartel. “Our series dives into moments inGriselda’s lifethat were the catalysts for a lot of her actions. She wanted to be as powerful as she could, and she was ruthless about it. She wanted power in order to care for her family, to do everything she could for her children,” she said in a press statement.

“That’s something all women, especially mothers, can understand, whether we can understand the way she went about it or not. In the world she came from, she did what she knew how to do. But the truth is, only the real Griselda could tell you why she did all that she did.” A young Griselda Blanco would be exposed to dangerous crime from the age of 3 when she moved to Medellín with her mother Ana.

Griselda Blanco young

Her only remaining son has some strong feelings about how Netflix portrayed a young Griselda Blanco. “My mother was a beautiful woman and it’s crazy that a lot of people say ‘No, you’ve got to look more like a drug addict’ … The fact that they call her ‘ugly’ that really offends me,” he told the Daily Mail.

“People see the mug shots and just go from that. But when you read my book, you’ll see that my mother was called the porcelain doll in her youth. Mayors, governors and politicians in different countries would try to court my mother… even here in the United States. She was the crème de la crème.”

He continued: “She was always a beautiful woman. Now, of course, 26 years of jail will age a person. And my mother was so used to pampering and she was so used to her maintenance… She wasn’t a saint but I’ll tell you something… my mother was a star and a queen.”

Speaking with The LA Times, Vergara explained that she spent three hours in the makeup chair to transform into Griselda. “I put on the worst bra to make my boobs saggy with no support, no boning,” she said. “I put on two Spanx to make my ass flatter and [less] bouncy, because when I walk, my ass bounces. I have an aunt that doesn’t have much ass. So I walked like her. I put my body like her.”

She continued: “I couldn’t become [Griselda] exactly. But I wanted to disappear. I wanted Gloria Pritchett to disappear. That was achievable — I mean, we’ll see. The show hasn’t come out yet, but I think it worked because I didn’t try to become her. I tried to become a woman of that era.”

On January 25, 2024, Vergara clashed with talk show host Kelly Clarkson who said: “I feel like they only changed your nose or something. I don’t know what they did.” Vergara laughed in response, saying: “What? Are you crazy? It was hours! Don’t be jealous.”

Clarkson persisted, saying the changes only looked “slight”, but Vergara replied: “It was a lot! They did a lot to me! It was teeth, it was wig, it was nose. It was plastic from here to here,” to which Clarkson finally backpedaled. “You literally look like you could actually just be this person in other movies. You could have two careers. You look like a different actress playing the role, you could have a whole different life as this actress,” she said. It was a bit awkward.

Blanco was caught in Irvine, California on February 17, 1985, after she was tracked by DEA agents for about ten years. According to The United States v. Blanco, Blanco gave a false name to the DEA agents who arrested her, and she was found to be carrying false identification papers.

“She was pretty tough and standoffish, a typical Colombian move I would say, nonchalant, not really showing any real emotion, but when we put her in the car, I was in the backseat with her, and the other agent was driving. We drove up to Los Angeles, and when we got close to the courthouse is when she became visibly shaken,” retired Agent Bob Palombo toldThe Independent.

“I mean, visibly shaken, she was shaking, and she grabbed my arm and you could feel her shaking and she turned and she threw up on my shoulder. Not a lot, it was mostly just bile, but she knew the proverbial s*** had hit the fan. And it was time for her to meet her accusers.”

Griselda is now streaming on Netflix.

The Godmother: The True Story of the Hunt for the Most Bloodthirsty Female Criminal in Our Time by Richard Smitten

A profile of bloodthirsty Colombian drug dealer Griselda Blanco, known as the “Black Widow” due to her penchant for killing off her lovers, recounts Blanco’s vicious crime spree and the ten-year struggle to bring her to justice.

Court records and interviews with Drug Enforcement Administration agents, federal attorneys, Miami police and Blanco’s acquaintances flesh out a portrait of a ruthless cocaine wholesaler whose “mules” (couriers) transported drugs in women’s undergarments and shoe heels. Her propensity for violence was legendary: she bragged of murdering her husband and claimed responsibility for Miami’s “Dadeland Massacre,” a shootout in a mall parking lot that disposed of one of Blanco’s creditors.