robert de niro , lorraine bracco and paul sorvino were all in attendance although director scorsese was filming in taiwan and joe pesci , who won an oscar for best supporting actor in 1991 for his turn as tommy devito , did n't show .
` joe pesci could n't be here , but he sent this email : ` f *** , f *** , f *** , f *** , f *** ' read de niro , introducing by liotta , and his friends over a period from 1955 to 1980 .
scorsese and producer irwin winkler sent video messages to the audience .