There is more to the The Real Housewives of New Jersey family feud than Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga’s animosity.
Their husbands are involved. Yes, Joe is Teresa’s brother, which makes all of this very complex.
Now, the conflict between Luis Ruelas and Joe Gorga is no secret. It has spilled out into the public sphere more than once.
This week, things became so ugly that the men exchanged violent threats, striking the table and yelling until they were red in the face. Well, redder,
On this week’s The Real Housewives of New Jerseythe countdown to Teresa and Luis’ wedding continued to send ripples through the family.
Some of those ripples expanded into shockwaves.
One problem? Teresa and Luis weren’t inviting Melissa’s parents to their then-upcoming nuptials. Those are Joe Gorga’s in-laws just as much as Luis is. And arguably, more.
So, during a dinner among the husbands, Joe brought up this major snub.
(Dramatic? Yes. The RHONJ husbands get more screen time than the husbands from other cities all combined, and it’s for a good reason)
And to the surprise of absolutely no one, when Joe touched upon this topic, he did not mince words.
“F–k you, f–k you, you’re not a man, bro,” Joe told Luis.
He then accused his then-soon-to-be brother-in-law “You’re af–king pussy, you know why.”
For some reason, over everything else, Luis focused on asking if Joe was implying that he is “not a man.” Toxic masculinity gives people weird priorities.
Luis didn’t stop with that question, however.
He taunted Joe, simply declaring that “I’m so above you, it’s not even funny.”
Furious, Joe replied that he’d proved to Luis “what a f–king man is.” This may sound like one of those porn intros that goes viral because everyone is still dressed and their dialogue is super dumb, but this is just how these guys are.
Luis taunted Joe, inviting him to simply “talk all you want, because you’re not going to affect me.”
Apparently, if ordinary talk would not get the message across, Joe figured that threats would do. Oddly sexually charged threats.
“I’m gonna break your f–king balls!” Joe screamed in response, pounding the table with his hand. “F–king right now!”
By the way, Luis did offer an explanation for the total snub against Melissa’s parents.
He claimed that it was simply “a lot of past bulls–t” that convinced him and Teresa to leave Joe’s in-laws out in the cold.
Sure, a couple should be the ones who decide whom to invite to their wedding. But … if you leave someone off the guest list, you know that it’s basically a declaration of war.
This bitter conflict will not be the last, it seems. The Season 13 trailer made that extremely clear.
Previews teased that, for one reason or another, Luis will eventually threaten to “f–king punch” Joe Gorga “in the face.”
And, of course, the Gorgas don’t end up attending Teresa and Luis’ wedding. Yes, it’s really that bad.