Sumith Prasad
Netflix’s biographical series ‘Griselda’ opens a window into the relationships between Griselda Blanco and her children, including her fourth son Michael Corleone Blanco. Michael is born to Griselda and her third husband Darío Sepúlveda. As the show depicts, he grew up watching his mother ruling Miami’s drug scene as the “Godmother.” Michael lost his father Darío as a child after he was killed by a group dressed as police officers in Colombia. Upon growing up, he got involved in narcotics but he left the crime world after the murder of his mother. Michael is now an internet personality and businessman whose ventures are rooted in his culture!
Michael Corleone Blanco’s Upbringing
Michael Corleone Blanco is named after Al Pacino’s character in Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘The Godfather’ film series. As a child, he survived seven assassination attempts and at the age of six, he had to witness his mother getting imprisoned. “I never actually had a childhood. I lived the life of a teenage capo. I wasn’t allowed to be a kid, I had to risk my life every single day I left the house for being a Blanco,” Michael told Mirror about his upbringing.
By the age of twelve, Michael became a part of the Blanco family’s drug dealings. Even as a child, he had to carry a gun to protect himself. “I was told, you’re a Blanco, part of that nobility. So, when you drive, make sure you’ve got people in cars driving around you, driving behind you. And have your gun right under your thigh. But to be fair, there was a lot of lavish lifestyle that went with all that. It wasn’t all pain and suffering,” he added. Michael was mentored by Griselda, who used to meet her son in a prison in San Francisco.
Getting Out of the World of Drugs and Crime
Michael wanted to leave the world of drugs and crime behind ever since Griselda became a free woman in 2004. However, he didn’t succeed until she died in 2012. At the time, he was under house arrest after getting charged with two felony counts of cocaine trafficking and conspiracy to traffic in cocaine. According to Michael’s business manager Cristian Rios, he hadn’t seen his mother since she was deported to Colombia after the conclusion of her sentence, although they remained in touch extensively over calls. Griselda’s murder was a turning point in Michael’s life as he realized that he had to get out of the drug scene for the sake of his children.
“I’d spoken to her [Griselda] at two that morning. They said to me, ‘Michael, I’m standing over your mother’s dead body.’ Right then and there it was, all right, do I kill a whole bunch of people just in case? Do you call the people that you know with one phone call will kill anybody you tell them to? Or do you say I will cut all generational curses right now and I won’t pass this s*** on to my kids?” Michael told Mirror. “I said, ‘I’m not going to let these kids live the life that I lived.’ But to get out of that life you have to let certain individuals know there won’t be any retributions. It was taken care of in the old country, Colombia,” he added.
Where is Michael Corleone Blanco Now?
After putting an end to his life as a drug dealer, Michael was featured in VH1’s reality series ‘Cartel Crew,’ through which he made it clear that he didn’t have any associations with the crime world. “We’re not glorifying the life that we lived. We’re glorifying us now reinventing ourselves because of that life we lived,” Michael told Fox News about featuring in ‘Cartel Crew.’ “My hope is that the public understands that we’re not our parents or we’re not the people in the ‘80s,” he added.
Michael currently runs Pure Blanco, a “billionaire cartel lifestyle brand” he created with his long-time friend Michael “Majix” Yuen. The brand focuses on fashion, film, music, cannabis, and licensing of the Pure Blanco brand. “We are a lifestyle brand made by bosses for bosses, so wear with pride!” the description of the company reads. He also runs the cannabis company Blanco Family Fincas & Packaging Co. The products of his companies feature Griselda’s photographs extensively as he is paying homage to his roots through his present ventures.
Michael sees the promotion of Griselda’s legend as his way of “making a positive from a negative.” “This is legal tender. I’m not hurting anybody. I’m trying to live the American dream. I’m trying to be successful with a legal product, something that I can feed my children with. And I do. That’s how I feed my family,” he told People. Michael continues to love his mother dearly regardless of the crimes she committed during her lifetime. “A lot of people might say that I go above and beyond to try to humanize my mother, but no matter what, my mother was my mother. She gave me milk from her breast. She took care of me,” he added.
Michael is about to publish the non-fiction book ‘My Mother, The Godmother,’ which is currently available to pre-order. The book chronicles Griselda’s life and his relationship with her. “[The book is the result of] more than fifteen years of researching, writing, and reconstructing each of the stories of my life, my family, and my mother, Griselda Blanco. A book in which I tell not only tell truths, but also make a deep reflection about how drug trafficking, wars, and corruption took away thousands of innocent people,” reads the official website of his work.
In September 2023, Michael and his family released a statement making it clear that the Blancos are not associated with the production of Netflix’s ‘Griselda.’ “The Blanco family is in no way associated or connected to the promotional project ‘Griselda,’ set to air on Netflix. Michael Corleone Blanco, nor any other member of the Blanco family have been consulted or have taken any part in the ‘Griselda’ project,” reads the statement.
As a response to the Netflix series, Michael has teamed up with Billy Corben, the director of the ‘Cocaine Cowboys’ documentary films, to create the podcast series, ‘The Real Griselda with Michael Corleone Blanco.’ The podcast series will comprise six 45-minute episodes to counter the six episodes of the Netflix show. “For the last 20 years, I’ve watched other people tell the story of my mother and our family. Now it’s my turn to tell the true story,” Michael shared while announcing the project.
Michael lives in Miami with his wife Marie Blanco and their daughter Faith. Michael also has two sons. The couple celebrated their eighth anniversary in October 2023. “Happy Anniversary to us. 8 years ago, I fell head over heels for you. We laid eyes on each other and saw our future and the rest was history,” Marie shared on the occasion.
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