The following article includes allegations of sexual assault.
While attending high school together in Staten Island, Joe Gatto and pals Brian “Q” Quinn, James “Murr” Murray, and Sal Vulcano blossomed as pranksters. Among their best was a stunt they’d dubbed Rice Capades, in which each would hide a 10-pound bag of rice in their backpacks and then suddenly dump them all out simultaneously on the floor, causing classmates to slip and slide all over the place. When they grew older, the four joined forces as a comedy troupe called The Tenderloins.
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Those childhood pranks laid the groundwork for Gatto and his fellow Tenderloins to create “Impractical Jokers.” Launched in 2011, the TruTV hidden-camera show featured the quartet pulling hilarious pranks on unsuspecting people — and sometimes even on each other. The show became a huge hit for the cable channel, attracting legions of fans and running for more than a decade. After the highly anticipated 10th season of “Impractical Jokers” aired, the show shifted from its original home to TBS in 2024. Gatto, however, had already parted ways with the show, announcing his exit in 2021. Since then, he’s focused on building a following as a solo comedian, while the other members of the “Impractical Jokers” cast have revealed where they stood with Gatto after his exit.
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While viewers yukked it up at The Tenderloins’ hilarious antics, they had no reason to suspect that Gatto was allegedly engaging in behavior that was far from funny. When shocking claims were made about him in March 2025, the show was hit with shockwaves that led to some serious consequences. To find out more, read on to learn about the dark side of “Impractical Jokers” star Joe Gatto.
Joe Gatto was involved in an Impractical Jokers prank that got them fined
One of the many “Impractical Jokers” pranks in which Joe Gatto was involved was when he and the others played “got your nose” with strangers on the street. Approaching passersby in front of a municipal government building, Sal Vulcano jumped atop a statue in front of the building and pretended to grab the nose of its face. As Gatto revealed while appearing on “The Bobby Bones Show,” after the episode aired, the show’s production company received a letter from informing they were fined for trespassing, because the statue was affixed to a landmark building.
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Gatto, however, saw an opportunity to mess with Vulcano, who wasn’t there when the series’ showrunner later told Gatto that the situation had been sorted out. “I was like, ‘No we didn’t … Sal’s in trouble,'” Gatto recounted. “So then we started this whole campaign up that Sal was facing a $500,000 fine and needed to go to a dissertation, like, to sit down with a judge.”
This led to a complicated, serpentine scheme, all captured by hidden cameras, that involved setting up a fake trial for Vulcano. Replete with make-believe lawyers, the whole thing culminating with the set being raided by fake Homeland Security agents. It was only then that the woman pretending to be the judge revealed the entire thing had been one elaborate prank. “It took about a year and two months for it to play out, which was really, really fun,” Gatto recalled. During the prank reveal, they declared it “the longest punishment in the history of ‘Impractical Jokers.'”
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Questions lingered when he separated from his wife and left Impractical Jokers due to ‘personal issues’
While fans may not know much about the wives of the “Impractical Jokers” stars, in late 2021, Joe Gatto had some news to share about his spouse, Bessy Gatto. At that time, he took to Instagram to reveal a double whammy, revealing he was exiting both “Impractical Jokers” and his marriage. “Due to some issues in my personal life, I have to step away,” he explained, without offering any details about the circumstances leading to the split. “Bessy and I have decided to amicably part ways, so now I need to focus on being the best father and co-parent to our two incredible kids.”
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Following that announcement, Joe’s estranged wife shared a message for the world. In a video she posted on TikTok, she posed a question: “What’s that broken thing in your house that everyone just accepts and lives with?” Snuggling with a dog, she held up her hand while looking forlorn.
Joe later revealed that he and his wife had reconciled, and paid tribute to her in a 2023 Instagram post celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary. “Thanks for this decade,” he wrote in the caption. “And I’m happy and hopeful that we will be able to get a few more in because we have proven with compassion, forgiveness and an open heart we can do this.” Interviewed in 2025 by the Longview News Journal, Joe admitted that exiting the show was the catalyst for saving his marriage. “My wife and I worked it out, which is great,” he said, explaining that “Impractical Jokers” dominated his life to the point that his marriage became impacted. “I was there from the first joke to the last edit,” he said.
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Impractical Jokers episodes featuring Joe Gatto’s questionable behavior were removed after he exited the show
Shortly after Joe Gatto announced he was quitting “Impractical Jokers,” Cinema Blend reported that several episodes of the show had been removed from streaming. Noting that TruTV hadn’t provided a reason for why those particular episodes had been pulled, the outlet pointed out they featured pranks in which Gatto kissed strangers, and another in which he hid inside a massage chair to massage people who sat in it. The episodes containing those pranks — which were titled, respectively, “The Dream Crusher,” and “Bull Shiatsu” — were no longer available to stream, while clips of those pranks were also removed from the “Impractical Jokers” YouTube channel.
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That led to an obvious question: why? For what reason had episodes in which Gatto engaged in some seemingly questionable behavior vanished? Both TruTV and the other Tenderloins remained silent about that, although the timing — coming so quickly after news of Gatto’s marital split — led to speculation about Gatto’s behavior on the show and what relationship it may have had with his separation.
He was accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman
In the years since exiting “Impractical Jokers,” Joe Gatto established himself as a standup comedian, embarking on comedy tours and even starring in his first-ever standup special, “Messing with People,” which streamed on Hulu. In March 2025, just as Gatto’s solo career was heating up, a TikTok user with the handle, joozyb, posted a video in which she made a shocking allegation. “I got sexually assaulted by Joe Gatto, the ‘Impractical Joker,'” she said in the since-deleted post, as reported by People.
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According to her post, back in 2023 — when she was just 19 — she, her mother, and sister spotted Gatto in a Milwaukee restaurant during his tour stop in the city. She later sent him a message via Instagram asking for tickets to his show, which he arranged for her. After the show, she claimed that she and Gatto exchanged more messages, one of which invited her to join him at his hotel. She accepted the invitation. “Somebody led me to the elevator, and somebody was on the elevator with me and pressed the button,” she recalled. Without getting into much detail, she claimed that “some stuff happened” while she was with Gatto in his hotel room.
She emphasized her allegations in the caption she added to the video. “Yes he did S.A. me. Yes he had JUST gotten back together with his wife,” she wrote. “I’m sorry you guys don’t want to hear it but.”
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A second woman came forward to accuse him of sexual harassment
Fans of “Impractical Jokers” were understandably reeling by the sexual assault allegations leveled against Joe Gatto. However, the situation went from awful to worse days after that TikTok video went viral, when Gatto was hit with another accusation, coming from another woman. That woman — who preferred to remain anonymous — told People that she first met Gatto when she was just 15 and wound up working for him. When she celebrated her 18th birthday, she told the magazine, she detected a shift in Gatto’s attitude toward her, becoming flirtatious and a bit on the handsy side — despite him being more than 20 years her senior and a married father.
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She recounted Gatto’s frequent request for massages, and desire to cuddle up with her while also asking probing questions about her sex life. She also alleged that Gatto told her his marriage to Bessy was an open one (something the woman believed to be a lie) and that he would often boast about luring girls to his apartment-like office via the freight elevator so they could avoid being seen in the lobby. In addition, the woman alleged that when she rejected Gatto’s advances, he responded by being rude and nasty to her the following day.
Unlike Gatto’s other accuser, this woman did not claim to have been sexually assaulted. She did, however, allege a pattern of sexual harassment, behavior over a long period that left her feeling uncomfortable.
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Joe Gatto denied all the allegations made against him, but admitted to ‘poor judgement’
When these accusations became public, it was incumbent on Joe Gatto to issue a response. The former “Impractical Jokers” star did just that, issuing an exclusive statement to Page Six. As Gatto explained, he denied that he sexually assaulted the woman, but stopped well short of insisting he hadn’t cheated on his wife.
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“I have used poor judgment and as a result have violated the trust of the people I love most,” Gatto’s statement began. “But anyone who knows me at all knows full well that I wouldn’t assault anyone.”
Gatto concluded by implying that he wouldn’t be issuing any further comments and would be slamming the brakes on his burgeoning career as a standup comic, at least temporarily. “Working on myself is an ongoing process, and I am now going to take some time away from the public eye to focus my energies where I need to,” he added, somewhat cryptically. For fans of “Impractical Jokers,” Gatto’s statement raised more questions than it answered, and generated speculation about what he planned to do next.
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Joe Gatto canceled his tour and entered treatment after allegations
After being accused of sexual assault, Joe Gatto’s next move was not an unfamiliar one to those who’ve followed the trajectories of others who have faced similar allegations, ranging from canceled Oscar winner Kevin Spacey to fallen movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, whose life in prison is worse than we thought. “Having taken some time to reflect, I’ve decided to voluntarily enter an inpatient program to continue working on myself,” Gatto said in a statement obtained by People. Entering rehab to address some vague, unexplained issue in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations is crisis PR 101, and Gatto seemed to be following that particular playbook to the letter.
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Gatto’s statement continued, ending on a personal note. “I just want to thank my friends, fans and especially my family for all of their support — never more so than over the last few days,” he added.
Somewhat inconveniently, the allegations surfaced in the midst of Gatto’s standup comedy tour, which saw him crisscrossing the U.S. As People reported, all of his upcoming shows for 2025 were immediately canceled, a scorched-earth response that was a far cry from a full-throated denial.
He was forced to rebrand his dog shelter to distance it from his scandal
Not only did the sexual assault allegations against former “Impractical Jokers” star Joe Gatto pause his burgeoning solo comedy career and send him fleeing to rehab, there were other unanticipated consequences. Also impacted was an endeavor very near and dear to both Gatto and his wife. “We run an animal rescue,” he once told the Longview News Journal. “It ain’t cheap! I’m basically out here working for the dogs! But I love them. They make me think about someone other than myself.”
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That shelter had been known as Gatto Pups and Friends, capitalizing on the fame he achieved from Practical Jokers. In the wake of those allegations, however, Gatto’s wife, Bessy Gatto, revealed via Instagram that the shelter’s name had been changed, to Cannoli’s Sweet Life Senior Rescue. “Formerly known as Gatto Pups and Friends, Cannoli’s Sweet Life Senior Rescue is here to continue being what this rescue and page were only ever designed for — saving the lives of senior dogs in need, and finding their forever homes,” she wrote in the caption, apparently placing some distance between the shelter and her accused husband, whom she made no mention of in the post.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN’s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
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