Pizza shop owner calls out Tommy DeVito for supposedly doubling appearance fee
October 29, 2023; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito (15) played in his first game for Big Blue. Photo credit: Kevin R. Wexler – The Record / USA TODAY NETWORK
Tommy DeVito became an overnight celebrity when he took over as the starting quarterback of the New York Giants last month, but one small business owner in New Jersey is not thrilled with the rookie.
Nino Coniglio, the owner of Coniglio’s Old Fashioned pizzeria in Morristown, New Jersey, announced over the weekend that DeVito was initially supposed to make an appearance at the restaurant on Tuesday but the event has been cancelled. Coniglio said in an Instagram post that he initially agreed to pay $10,000 for DeVito to stop by the pizzeria for a couple of hours to sign autographs, but DeVito’s agent doubled the fee to $20,000 last week.
Coniglio claimed in an Instagram post that the agreed-upon fee was raised after the Giants beat the Green Bay Packers last Monday.
“After last week’s win we received word from his agent that his appearance fee would be doubling (went from 10k to 20); We are a small family run business & decided $20,000 was a bit steep for 2 hours,” Ciniglio wrote.
DeVito’s agent, Sean Stellato, told Darren Rovell that no agreement was ever reached for DeVito to appear at Coniglio’s restaurant.
“It’s a shame that the restaurant promoted that they would have Tommy when we didn’t have a signed contract. We didn’t raise the price because nothing was ever agreed to,” Stellato said.
Tommy DeVito’s agent @seanstellato: “It’s a shame that the restaurant promoted that they would have Tommy when we didn’t have a signed contract. We didn’t raise the price because nothing was ever agreed to.” pic.twitter.com/CanIbk0GlA
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 18, 2023
Coniglio then responded by sharing a screenshot with Rovell that appears to show that Stellato agreed to $10,000 for two hours and 250 autographs.
This isn’t the end.
Coniglio’s owner Nino Coniglio on deal with DeVito.
“We agreed in principle to terms — 2 hours, 250 autographs and $10,000 and then the agent couldn’t be reached. He reached back out after Monday’s game to tell us the price was now $20,000.”
Contract… https://t.co/fBOFYqiIBi pic.twitter.com/JhZFBeAYSe
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 18, 2023
Stellato became a celebrity in his own right during the Giants’ Week 14 win over the Packers on “Monday Night Football.” The agent was shown on TV multiple times looking like a character straight out of “The Godfather.”
Perhaps the added fame from the buzz surrounding DeVito and Stellato on “Monday Night Football” led to an uptick in the cost for a DeVito appearance.