An explosive fight between Joe Gorga and Luis Ruelas broke out and nearly turned physical during the Feb. 21 episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. It all happened during a group dinner with the husbands, when the topic of Luis and Teresa Giudice not inviting Melissa Gorga’s family to their upcoming wedding came up. After Luis arrived, the guys started asking about his bachelor party, and Joe asked who he’d be inviting. When Luis asked Joe why he was asking, Joe started interrogating Luis about the wedding’s guest list.
#RHONJ Preview: Luis and Joe Gorga kick off! Whose side are you on?! pic.twitter.com/ImG1bKhr79
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Luis revealed that he and Teresa invited approximately 200 people to the wedding, and that mostly included “close” friends. But Joe pointed out that a lot of people on his “side of life” weren’t invited, and he felt that was “f***ed up.” Especially because Melissa’s mom treated his and Teresa’s dad so well when he was alive. Joe said it would have been a sign of “respect” to invite Melissa’s mom to the wedding, but that didn’t happen, so he was pissed.
Even Margaret Josephs‘ husband Joe Benigno agreed, as he said it’s an “Italian family tradition” to invite in-laws to weddings. Then, when Frank Catania asked why Joe’s in-laws weren’t invited to the wedding, Luis said it was because a “lot of past bulls***”. But Joe said it shouldn’t have anything to do with the drama between Teresa and Melissa. Instead, he felt Melissa’s mom should have been invited simply because of how well she treated Giacinto Gorga before his passing. “It’s a slap in the face not to invite [Melissa’s family]. It’s an Italian family. I’m Italian. I know how it works,” Joe Benigno added, and others agreed. Joe Gorga said it was like Teresa and Luis saying, “F*** you,” to him.
“There’s a lot of slaps to the face going on. You’re not the only one that’s feeling like that,” Luis shot back at Joe Gorga, to which he asked, “Who’s slapping who?” Luis then explained that Melissa “went on social media” to say that Teresa’s kids “wouldn’t eat food” if it wasn’t for them agreeing to film the RHONJ spinoff, Teresa Checks In, in 2015, when Teresa was in prison. Melissa previously said Joe Giudice wasn’t employed at the time, so the family needed to film something (while RHONJ was on hiatus) for more income.
Joe Gorga claimed they never meant the kids wouldn’t have eaten without them — they just meant that they were there for Teresa continually while she in prison. What was actually said was that the Giudice kids “would not still be living in that house and have food” if it wasn’t for the spinoff show.
“I was there,” Joe Gorga said, but Luis disagreed. He said Teresa’s daughters have said otherwise, and earlier in the episode, we saw Gia and Gabriella Giudice, say they can only remember Joe and Melissa visiting the house once while Teresa was behind bars.
Joe Gorga told Luis that he didn’t know what he was talking about, so he told him to “be quiet,” and that’s when s*** hit the fan.
“F**k you, f**k you, you’re not a man, bro,” Joe, 48, said while pointing at Luis, 47. “You’re a f**king pussy, you know why.” Luis then asked Joe if he was implying he was “not a man,” adding, “I’m so above you, it’s not even funny.”
After Joe clapped back and said he’d prove to Luis “what a f**king man is,” Luis assured him that he can “talk all you want, because you’re not going to affect me.”
“I’m gonna break your f**king balls!” Joe screamed while pounding his fist against the table. “F**king right now! Tough guy, f**k you, don’t talk to me like that.” Luis then warned him to “stop with the theatrics.” And he urged Joe Gorga to call his sister and talk things out. Joe said he wasn’t sure if that’s something he could do, but in a preview for next week’s episode, we do see that Joe calls Teresa — unfortunately, she doesn’t seem too into it, and Luis is handing her a script to read.
Want more? New episodes of The Real Housewives of New Jersey air Tuesdays at 9pm on Bravo.