After Teresa Giudice spent most of The Real Housewives of New Jersey‘s Feb. 17 season premiere spreading a rumor about Evan Goldschneider cheating on Jackie, she was bombarded by a wild accusation about her eldest daughter, Gia. Even though Jackie now says the Gia allegation she made was only used as an “analogy” to show Teresa just how much she was hurting the Goldschneiders, Teresa felt Jackie went too far.
It all started when Jackie threw Evan a birthday party. She invited all the ladies, and while some expected Teresa to bring a date following her divorce from Joe Giudice, Teresa brought friend and realtor Michelle Pais instead. Dolores Catania, on the other hand, brought her “new tight end” if you know what we mean, but that’s a whole ‘nother story. Anyway, after Teresa arrived at the party and said she wanted to find “a good f***”, she immediately started pulling people aside and saying she “heard” Evan “does stuff” with other women at the gym.
“When he goes to the gym, he screws around,” Teresa further claimed while talking to Margaret Josephs. Teresa kept saying that she just “heard” this information, but wouldn’t provide any receipts or reveal who told her the rumor. She “couldn’t even remember the person who told her,” Jennifer Aydin later said in a private confessional. Jennifer said Teresa told her the info before the party, but it “went in one ear and out the other” since Teresa had nothing to show for it when it came to backing up the claim. “At the end of the day, if you don’t have any receipts, shut the f*** up,” Jennifer concluded during her confessional.
Unfortunately for Jackie, though, the damage was already done. And quickly after the party concluded, Jackie and Evan both discovered what Teresa had been telling people. After viewers saw Dolores and boyfriend David arguing over her plastic surgery (he’s against it), and Jennifer dealing with some family drama (her parents have separated), Jackie invited Teresa to Margaret’s for a chat. She felt as though Margaret’s house could be a safe space for them to discuss their differences. Teresa thought the plan was odd, but she agreed to meet with Jackie.
Once at Margaret’s, Jackie told Margaret that Teresa was the one who started the rumor, so she should be the one to shut it down. But Teresa had other plans. Not only did she refuse to admit that the rumor was a lie, but she doubled down on it, saying it was “a rumor” that she “heard”, so it is what it is. Teresa also said that she “didn’t care” whether or not there was any evidence, she just felt as though it was her obligation to share the information with Jackie.
“Did you ever hear the saying, ‘When there’s smoke there’s fire’?” Teresa asked Jackie, insinuating that the rumor could potentially be true. Teresa said that she had been approached by dozens of married men “who think that it’s okay to have affairs”, so she felt like leaking the info about Evan would show everyone that it’s not okay to cheat.
Teresa and Jackie clash. (Source @bravotv/@nbcuniversal) #RHONJ pic.twitter.com/JXShgzltxW
— OMFGRealityTV (@OMFGRealityTV) February 18, 2021
Jackie couldn’t believe that Teresa didn’t understand the hurt and pain she had caused her family by spreading such a rumor without concrete evidence, so Jackie made a wild claim about Teresa’s daughter, Gia, to make her point hit home. “Well, you know what — I heard that Gia snorts coke in the bathroom at parties,” Jackie said before Teresa called her a “f***ing bitch” and a “c***”. Teresa actually used the c-word several times while storming out of Margaret’s.
Jackie was obviously just making an analogy, which she has since admitted to in recent interviews and a tweet (seen below), but Teresa couldn’t handle what Jackie said about Gia, and after the episode aired, she demanded an apology. See her tweet below.
My analogy about Gia was simply an analogy – there was no truth to it of course. The rest of the cast understood this, which you’ll see in the coming weeks. The behavior at my husband’s birthday party is truly unfortunate – destroying a marriage and family is not entertainment
— Jackie Goldschneider (@JGSchneid) February 18, 2021
— Teresa Giudice (@Teresa_Giudice) February 18, 2021
Want more drama? New episodes of RHONJ air Wednesdays at 9pm on Bravo.