Amid all this talk of foreclosure, auctions, and tanning salons, The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice sat down with the ladies of The View this morning to address her family’s financial situation on national television.
According to Teresa, she and husband Joe filed for bankruptcy for two reasons: 1) Failure to receive rent money from the tenants living in the four apartment buildings Joe owns in East Orange, N.J., and 2) Expenses from the lawsuit Joe is currently involved in with his ex-business partner. Like we’ve seen on RHONJ, this explanation seemed rehearsed, and when pressed further, Teresa became flustered (“Is your husband a slumlord?” “What?”). Neither Joy Behar nor guest co-host Bryant Gumbel could fathom how someone could possibly get themselves into such financial disaster (they must not watch the show), and both kept looking for the ultimate reasoning behind the Giudices’ troubles. Behar used terms Teresa didn’t understand, while Gumbel peppered her with follow-ups that included facts about Joe’s mysterious business partner: “Your husband’s partner said it wasn’t just that, that he was collecting the rent but that he wasn’t even paying the utility bills, that the building was in disrepair?…The absence of rent money doesn’t explain $11 million in debt!”
Elisabeth Hasselbeck took a backseat to Behar and Bryant, but did ask Teresa if Joe ever put some of the fault on her outrageous spending. “No, not at all…because I always live within my means. Always,” Teresa insisted. After lavish parties, shopping sprees, and breast implants, viewers of RHONJ may beg to differ, though she insisted that she is careful with her money and no longer uses credit cards. “How can you live within your means if you’re now $11 million in bankruptcy? I don’t get that,” Behar exclaimed. Fellow guest co-host Mario Cantone remained quiet before chiming in about the hard-to-miss diamond ring (a 10th anniversary present from Joe, which is actually fake — phew!), Teresa was wearing (“Do I heard $20 million! 20? 20?”), which provided some much-needed comic relief.
Were the ladies and gents of The View too harsh on Teresa, or not harsh enough? I give her credit for talking about an obviously difficult subject live on national television, but I can’t help but feel that she doesn’t understand (or at least hasn’t divulged) the vastness of her problem. Throughout the morning, she resorted to her old faithful of an excuse: the economy. Yes, it’s timely and yes, the economic crisis may have added to the Giduices’ situation, but “the economy” has become all-purpose solution for Teresa: “Why did you lose your job?” “The economy.” “Why did you chase Danielle around a country club?” The economy.”
What did you think, PopWatchers? Do you believe Teresa’s explanation for her debt? Considering the Real Housewives of New Jersey has been putting up record ratings this season, maybe it’s time the women negotiate some new contracts with Bravo? (If the Jersey Shore cast has taught us anything, it’s how to get more money from a reality show.)
Read more:
‘The Real Housewives of New Jersey’: Teresa Guidice tans, sprays, and brings the heat to New Jersey
so, let me get this straight? you have the PRESIDENT on and you ask him completely inane questions and then pat yourselves on the back for not pressing him harder on his evasive answers. BUT, you get a NJ HOUSEWIFE on and it’s like the spanish inquisition??? just one more reason why i don’t watch the VIEW. morons all around (all of them).
I’ll second that…
So freakin true!!!!!!!!!!!! I 3rd that.
TY! I’ll 4th this one! What a bunch of BS!
Please, they did not even grill teresa, as they should, it looked like they were being careful, elisabeth didnt even really say much…as for the president, elisabeth was grilling his a**, and he talked about some of the issues, they barely got anything out of teresa, i was disappointed, i wanted them to really dig in her a**
they were told not to I bet with fear she would blow up and cause a stear on live tv. Look what happened in the Brownstone. and she is an airhead. They caused there own problems. she walked all over him.
The kid gloves approach was probably negotiated before the princess ever set foot on stage. While Danielle has plenty of baggage, compared to Theresa, she is downright classy. Theresa is a complete moron, first of all. She sounds like an airhead all the time. She’s also everything I hate about rich women. It’s all about narcissism and selfish entitlement. Even with their obvious financial meltdown, it would never occur to her not to spend, at least not to flaunt her incessant purchases. She has taste like a hooker, and is probably the tackiest stylist I’ve ever seen. Joe, on the other hand, seems pretty down to earth, in contrast. Too bad he’s married to this pig. She’s a horrible mother, and has the emotional maturity of a 10 year old. That caveman forehead of hers seems like it is corresponding with an IQ of miniscule proportions. I don’t have schadenfreude seeing her financial difficulties, but, I do have contempt for her, and everything she does, says, and stands for.
“him harder on his evasive answers.” – they should’ve pressed her harder on her evasive answers, they barely got anything out of her, just the same sh** she told other media outlets, she is still delusional and not taking responsibility, it was such a tedious interview…elisabeth pressed obama on the issues, the other women also talked about the issues w/obama…
And you are the kings of the Morons. The Retarded.
Meant for the first 4 commentors.
why doesnt anyone consider that when teresa says shes living within her means she means that the money shes spending on the show is the money she makes FROM the show? she gets at the very LEAST 100k a season, so of course theres money to be had and spent.
that being said, teresa never seems like she has a clue, and the interview played out like all of hers do. shes not too bright and joe probably doesnt tell her anything.
i feel bad for joe during all of this. watching the show, the stress is clearly beginning to show.
According to a friend of mine whose buddy is actually ON the RHONJ, these women only make $3000.00 per episode, each.
Gael…you are totally wrong. In her bankruptcy filing, Theresa said she gets paid $3,000 per episode and they shoot 10 episodes per year. That $30,000 would not have even paid for one of her lavish parties.
If they gave the president easy questions that’s their prerogative. His presence there was a privilege and they behaved accordingly.
exactly! why is that so difficult for some of these people to understand??
That’s bull. I don’t watch the show and don’t know whether or not they gave him softball answers or not (I only read the article because of the stupidity of Giudice), but if the President is on the View, it isn’t about privilege it’s about his agenda and therefore deserves to be asked the same hard questions he would get in a press conference. Lord knows that if it was Bush everyone would want questions about Iraq and weapons of mass destruction. It’s bull to say tha they should feel honored and not ask him tough questions.
This is why I have never and will never watch this STUPID show.
can you say “OBAMAGEDDON”
Your racist comments have nothing to do with this discussion.
Tambra,You are such an air- head you belong on the show with that other air- head !!!
@baahaha That was one of the greatest comments I have ever read!
The president is someone extremely important! It was necessary for the “VieW” to drill him with tons of questions about our country. That’s been said, Teresa is a nobody! Hopefully the gold digger don’t feel special because she was on the “View”. Having them not allowing her to answer all the questions they were throwing at her was GREAT. Simply, because, all she would have said was the “economy”… The economy is why she’s broke or filed for bankruptcy. She didn’t admit at all that; yes I may have over spend a lil. She nor her husband will ever tell the public why exactly they are almost 11 million $$$ in the whole. Or admit that they scam the credit cards companies dry.. Her husband knew exactly what he was doing. Its was fraud! He was aware of that. She on the other hand didn’t care how the money was going in as long as she was able to shop, shop. She’s a retard for real! She have the vocabulary of a 6 grader. Not a smart woman at all. Go back to school Teresa, learn a few things on money management, business, etc. Your selfish, rude, uneducated, inconsiderate, gold digger, materialistic. ETC!
My clearest memory of Teresa in the first season, actually, was her talking about how they don’t like to use credit cards as she laid down twenty or so thousand in cash for some ridiculous furniture for the new house. So that doesn’t surprise me.
But Joe doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who keeps his wife well informed on their actual financial situation anyway.
yeah, the best part is her comment, ‘ i ALWAYS live within my means!’ bahahahahaha.
No–the BEST was that she said ery arrogantly …”I heard something about a recession…” in season one. As if she was immune to it-how the tables turn…or flip:)
but if you look at her bankruptcy paperwork, both her and Joe have credit cards at Home Depot with $7000 on each card. She owes $20K to Nordstrom, Neimann Marcus, etc. So she uses credit cards.
Please don’t be one of those believe.
iread that the producers handed her a wad of hundreds for filming purchases. it wasnt even her money. wonder how much is actual events or how much is “staged”.
I will never forget the episode where they were just moving in to their mansion, and she was talking like “I would never move into a house that someone else had lived in. Ewwwww! Who does she think she is…She should move into one of her rental property and really get a life…So disguesting..she takes no responsibiltiy for anything and everyone lets her get away with it, cause she is not very bright!!!
How can she claim to live within their means when she doesn’t even really have a grasp of what their actual means are? Does she even know what “means” means?
No she doesnt. As she has shown numerous times on this show she is in need of a good dictionary and thesaurus.
Teresa is still in denial. I was wondering if that ring was a fake.
That segment was very painful and awkward to watch. I still think Theresa and Joe are crooks. How can a couple making 100K a year get into 11 million worth of debt? Someone needs to investigate who loaned them all the money. Meanwhile, Theresa just needs to sit down somewhere.
I think they were too hard on. The poor woman is an idiot and probably didn’t understand 1/2 the questions thrown at her. Poor thing.
Idiot, yes. But she’s also mean, mean, mean (and selfish), so I don’t feel a bit bad for her.
Bless her heart.
She claims she went to college, she must have had at least 1 math class, no? She doesn’t care, she is so rehearsed but when she is pushed harder she crumbles. Feel sorry for the creditors that got screwed and many were small businesses!
It is just a waste of everyone’s time to try and get a coherent explanation about finainces from this woman.
This woman is as stupid as a box of rocks. Why even waste your breath on this disgusting human who is using up good air. She and her husband are wannabees and are a clueless and classless as a bowery drunk.
I really like “stupid as a box of rox”, I’d only heard “stupid as a box of hair”, but I like it. I really, really like it. And, most important of all, I agree.
Kelly I agree with you on that 150%. She is very vindictive and spends her life energy hating Danielle when she should be learning how to balance her check book. So sad that in this day in time there are still women that are beyond ignorant when comes to finances.
yes the interview was painful to watch because she was not telling the truth. You have a well respected host in Bryant Gumbel who knows to spot crooks like teresa and joe. It is not the economy’s fault or section 8 apts. They just thought they could do what they did without explain.
That ring was not the same shown on the Housewives of NJ last week. She wore something similar to throw off the trustee!
Regarding the ring: Funny how she swiftly threw her hands in her lap after Joy pointed it out/asked about it and tried to get a better look. Epic Fail.
That right hand ring today on the View, she said it was not real, I would like one for myself if anyone can find out where it came from.
Someone in another article said that it isn’t the same ring as the one from the show. I haven’t see the View to know myself.
could not agree with you more perfectly said…Anything that comes out of her mouth besides her hatred for Danielle is a lie…She go off too easy on the view, made them look incompetent at their job, and only made her look more stupid…
Joe & Teresa have both said they are “Old School”. This means your husband goes to work & the wife take care of the home.Teresa probably thought she was living within their means. Joe probably didn’t let her in on their financial situation. As for the rental property. I have known people who if they have a couple of places empty, you can really get in a bind. Especially if it goes on for a while. They have 4 buildings x that by say 2 in ea. building @ say 1000.00 ea.for a couple of months. That adds up. You can get in financel trouble fast. I think we are all guilty of over spending here & there. I know in the past I let my husband keep up w/finances. He got really sick & I had a BIG wake up call. Every LADY NEEDS TO KEEP UP WITH THIS. I learned my lesson. I think Teresa & Joe have learned theirs. I think they were to hard on Teresa on the View. They would ask her a question, but wouldn’t let her really answer. Joy kept being a smart mouth,& that other guy also. Ask your question, let her answer. I think Joe will keep Teresa informed about things now. We didn’t get in that shape, thank goodness. I just didn’t keep up with the finances. It was my choice to just let my husband take care of them. I say leave them alone. We all live & learn.
STFU Teresa! Lol!
LMAO. I agree 100%. Teresa & Joe are crooks that got caught!
Yeah except for teresa’s name is on the the apartment papers as well as being listed on several lawsuits for being a slumlord. if you put your name on a legal document then its YOUR business.
Teresa may/may not have known about the debt, but either way she is an incredibly rude and selfish creature. Even if they weren’t in debt, what is she teaching her daughters about extreme materialism, selfishness, over-the-top-tackiness, arrogance…oh, that’s right I must just be jealous. I love how she thinks anyone who criticizes her is just jealous – this is one delusional woman.
Finally people have come to the realization of what she stands for. Other blogs I have read were all poor Teresa! Finally…!!! You tell it people and hopefully she reads this…
This was brutal. But well deserved. I know people who own some buildings in East Orange. They do well for themselves but nothing like this woman. Owning apartment buildings in East Orange does not land you 11 million dollars in debt.
The ChicagoNow Blog made a great point.
Section 8 is a program where a large portion of rent is paid by the government (guarateed rent) while the rest is paid by the tenant (a small portion).
The giudices would have to own hundreds of section 8 approved buildings for “unpaid” rent to contribute to the 11 million they owe.
And yes, it is true and factual that many Americans are in debt. It is however, mindboggling to equate a 80k income to a 11 mil debt.
Last week’s episode was their 10th anniversary. This episode was shot AFTER the bankruptcy filing, yet Teresa is heard asking for something “big” and diamonds…
She totally threw her husband under the bus on The View.
She made it very clear to viewers that she loves nothing less than glam and fab. She buildt a museum from scratch because a used home wasn’t “cleansy”. And she would have all of us believe that’s she’s a victim of the economy after posing like a rich heiress in season one.
she is sooo f’in stupid
Didn’t you here her? She’s rerevinating! That’s gotta cost a lot.
Huh?? Revinating? Do you mean RENOVATING? FYI to renovate a house means to make home improvements on a home that already exists.
The home they live in was buildt from scratch, besides how the heck does anyone incur a 11 mil debt on a 5 mil house?
I’m not a mathetician, but I’m not an idiot either.
Just because you buy her excuses doesn’t mean the rest of us has too.
Why would you “revinivate” a brand new house? Someone send this woman back to school.
I believe Debbie was making fun of her incorrect use of the word, not claiming she bought her excuses. Don’t read so much into it and chill out a little
!
same woman who said “we’re in a recession? whats that?” well that’s why I pay cash”
Just out of curiousity, I looked at the auction catalog for their house, and the word “faux” appears in many of the item descriptions.
My bithday is coming up and I have been begging my friends to buy me the Giudices’ suit of armor. It is possibly the tackiest/best piece of furniture in the history of creation.
I would be a lot more inclined to have sympathy for her if instead of constantly trying to “defend” herself and blame others/the economy, she accepted just a modicum of responsibility for the situation. If she said “you know, Joe and I got ahead of ourselves and spent more than we were making. Now that we understand our mistakes, we’re working hard to pay back our debts and move on. We want to teach our daughters fiscal responsibility.” etc etc. I might actually root for her in that case. But she just doesn’t get it. It’s always someone else’s fault. I find her infuriating.
Thank you Anon – it’s the lying that I find so irksome.
Exactly
That would be a lie, since they filed bankruptcy to relieve themselves of their debt. Just saying…
I feel for Joe…She had to have known what situation they were in..She just kept spending and spending, you can even see the look on his face, sweating bullets and drinking more and more..She does not care, she only wants more and more and more…Soooo selfish!!