Teresa Giudice may be in serious legal trouble, with 39 counts of financial fraud and a possible 50-year prison sentence hanging over her head. But at least The Real Housewives of New Jersey star can find comfort in an unlike ally: rival sister-in-law Melissa Gorga. The reality star told Andy Cohen last night on Watch What Happens Live that she and Giudice “are in a much better place than we’ve been in a long time.” “I’ve reached out and spoke to Teresa [since the indictment],” Gorga told the host. “She knows I have her back, and that the kids, of course, are the number-one priority, and that’s what [husband] Joe and I are always here for… no matter what.” Giudice fled to Florida over the weekend (as pictured above) and appeared at a red carpet event at Pangea nightclub. She’s next due in court on August 14 – and Gorga says the “key” thing for the family is the bond between her three kids and the four Teresa shares with her husband, Joe Giudice. “That’s the most important part,” Melissa said. “My husband [only] has one sister.” Teresa Giudice Fraud Case Bethenny Frankel on Teresa Giudice
With word of the Teresa Giudice fraud case spreading around the nation, many cast members involved with the Real Housewives franchise are concerned about this mother of four. “She may need some help raising those children,” Lea Black (Miami) tells People . “The consequences may be bigger than anyone would think.” During the 39-charge indictment and subsequent court hearing last week, it came out that Joe Giudice is not an American citizen and could face deportation if found guilty over certain crimes. “I feel really bad because I really like Teresa,” Jill Zarin (New York) also tells the magazine. “She is a sweet girl and a good mother. I only want the best for her and her family.” Late last week, Bethenny Frankel took the opposite approach. She said that Teresa did something dumb and did it on television and she therefore has no sympathy for the reality star. But Black can’t help but have a sensitive spot for what’s taking place. “It’s a bad situation for them to be in,” she says . “You don’t kick someone when they’re down. They’ve got four kids, they’re in a lot of trouble and they’re trying to survive.”
Teresa Giudice is standing by her husband throughout their legal entanglements, and he may reward her by taking the fall, according to reports. The Real Housewives of New Jersey stars are staring at up to 50 years in prison, but has made it clear that she and Joe Giudice are a united front. “I support Joe,” she said after her indictment on 39 criminal charges . “As a wonderful husband and father, I know he wants only the best for our daughters and me.” The Giudices could be in very deep trouble for crimes that range from mail and bank fraud to lying about their income when applying for bankruptcy. They surrendered to authorities this week and are free on bail. Love, family and commitment aside, her loyalty could be a calculated move, as insiders say he may try to protect his wife as much as he can in their trial. “My guess is that Joe will take some sort of a plea to lessen or remove anything from his wife,” said Monica Chacon, an attorney familiar with Giudice. Chacon represented Giudice’s former business partner in a 2007 case, in which Joe Mastropole sued the couple and Teresa was absolved of any wrongdoing. Despite her signature appearing on several documents, Joe was willing to accept responsibility for forging her signature and got her off the hook. Joe answered that he “might have” signed crucial pieces of evidence in her name and continued to insist that Teresa had nothing to do with his business dealings. Teresa adds, “I wasn’t involved in their business… I never went to a closing. I never signed any papers. [If] my name is on a lot of properties, it is news to me.” But the plaintiff, Mastropole, insisted The Real Housewives of New Jersey stars were lying to help her get off, and says it may happen again here. “Any mortgages she got, she knew darn well and she signed those mortgages. You know, [Teresa and Joe] are very good actors. They should be on HBO.” How effectively he can shield her and how strong the evidence against the duo is this time remain open questions as the case moves through federal court. Teresa Giudice Fraud Report Teresa Giudice Spinoff Ideas: On Hold
Every woman has that memory of their first period. Some are funny, some are average, all have an element of fear mixed with a bit of pride. The people over at Hello, Flo ? They seem to have captured that feeling amazingly with this promo for their new service to help you get prepared. Check out “Camp Gyno” below! Camp Gyno – HelloFlo Don’t think this is just for first-timers. Oh no ladies. We can all get in on the fun as well! With a variety of care packages, from light to heavy, you can set up a monthly shipment just for you. Seriously. Tampons, pads, and candy… it really is like Christmas every month.
If Teresa Giudice is looking for sympathy these days, she may wanna look someplace other than in the heart of a former member of the Bravo family. With Giudice and her husband facing 39 counts of fraud and up to five decades in jail, Bethenny Frankel was asked yesterday about Teresa’s legal plight. “I haven’t paid that much attention,” Frankel said at the Television Critics Association summer press tour. “Do I feel sorry for them? No, I don’t. Not so much, because it broke the law. You broke the law and you went on television. That’s not really that smart.” Frankel is going through an ugly divorce from Jason Hoppy , however. And because the estranged couple has a young daughter, the talk show maven and successful entrepreneur does feel for Teresa and Joe Giudice’s four children. “Their kids didn’t sign up for this,” she said. The Giudices are the parents to Gia, 12, Gabriella, 10, Milania, 7, and Audriana, 3. They are due in court against on August 14 and Joe Giudice – technically an Italian citizen – could be deported if he’s found guilty on certain charges. Teresa is doing her best to remain calm in the face of such a possibility. Teresa Giudice Spinoff Ideas: On Hold
Teresa Giudice and her husband are in major trouble with the law. U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced today a 39-count indictment against The Real Housewives of New Jersey couple, alleging that the Giudices defrauded the IRS and a number of banks over an seven-year period that started in 2001. According to the legal filings, Teresa and Joe schemed to illegally obtain mortgages and other loans from various banks by purposely overestimating their incomes in order to garner more cash. As previously reported, the reality stars then withheld key information about their net worth when they filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Joe, meanwhile, is accused of failing to file income tax returns for all the years between 2004 and 2008, despite supposedly banking $1 million during that time. Overall, the charges levied against this couple include: Conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. Bank fraud, which carries a maximum of 30 years. TMZ reached out to Bravo for comment, but the network is yet to address the situation. Yikes.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey gives us “Scum One, Scum All” as the team builders run for cover. We recap all the therapy and mysterious black tar in our THG +/- review. We pick up right where we left off with Joe Gorga calling sister Teresa Giudice scum. Minus 20 . That really was out of line. Then Tre runs out to Juicy Joe who storms in looking for a fight but before he gets halfway there, Gorga charges him like a bull in a pasture. Minus 30 because I can’t tell what there’s more of in that room, testosterone or stupidity. Suddenly odd things start happening. Teresa runs out to call the cops. Do you really call the police on your own family? Melissa, Richie, and Kathy all jump in to the fray to try to pull these two idiots apart while Joe Gorga doesn’t just hit below the belt, he bites! Plus 16 because you just can’t make this stuff up. When they finally break apart the first thing Melissa does is run to Joe Gorga and put on his hat. That was weird, even for this crowd. Even weirder is the black gunk that’s everywhere…Juicy Joe’s face, Richie’s sweater. It’s as though they’ve all been tagged. Could it be Melissa’s mascara? Teresa’s eye-liner? Oh no. It’s even scarier than that. It’s Joe Gorga’s spray on hair! Plus 37 just because I can’t stop laughing. All of the money these fools are making on this show and he’s buying cheap spray-on hair? That’s priceless. Everyone storms off to their rooms. They all threaten to leave but no one actually does…except perhaps the team builders. They were never seen or heard from again. I guess the Middle East didn’t prepare Steve for Jersey after all. Richie and Rosie try to mend fences between the warring parties. Joe Gorga spends the evening in tears. And Juicy and Teresa destress by sharing a bath. Minus 50 . It’s going to take a while to scrub the gory details of Joe and Teresa’s “sexy time” from my brain. And the last thing I need to know is how Joe likes it rough and Tre doesn’t. Plus there isn’t a tip big enough to compensate that room service waiter who served them in the bathroom. Talk about taking full service to the extreme. The next day Dr. V, a “relationship expert” shows up. I rolled my eyes when the skinny little blonde with the too red lipstick walked in but surprisingly she seemed to know her stuff. Plus 12. In no time she had Teresa and her brother sharing a couch and crying their eyes out. I hope she brought tissues. In another odd turn of events, Caroline shows up…because Teresa called her for help. Not really sure how Caroline can make any of this better, but what’s one more guest at the table. Maybe Dr. V can help. Deep down I think Teresa and her brother want to reconcile and I honestly don’t think Juicy Joe cares much one way or the other. But Melissa’s going to be an issue and as much as I think she causes many of her own problems it’s a little hard to blame her. Teresa’s been behind rumors that she was a cheater and a stripper, plus she let Juicy ruin Joe Gorga’s spray on hair. Minus 10. That’s a little hard to get past. So do you think that the sister-in-laws will ever realize that all they really have to do is be civil to one another at holidays like everyone else and let the kids have play dates and life would be good? Nah…that’d be too easy. Episode total = -45! Season total = 382!
The Real Housewives of New Jersey found Melissa Gorga unknowingly “Drinking With the Enemy”. We recap the liars, cheaters, and so-called friends in our THG +/- review It all starts out innocent enough. Kathy’s cooking in her test kitchen and Rosie’s recounting how she had to pull her cartilage back into place after her meeting with Teresa. Minus 10. Did we really need to hear about that? Then Rosie shares Teresa’s idea of a retreat between the Guidices and Gorgas and invites the others along. Unsurprisingly there were not a lot of takers. Caroline rolls her eyes and Jacqueline proclaims she won’t join them in the gates of Hell. Plus 23 . I really couldn’t blame her. But even Jacqueline seemed to have bought a ticket on the crazy train. The way she tore that cell phone out of Kathy’s hand and wouldn’t give it back was surreal. Minus 12. Then she’s screaming over the speaker phone in the middle of a store and wouldn’t stop. As Kathy pointed out, there were “all kinds of crazy on both ends” of that call. Perhaps Teresa and Jacqueline really should just avoid one another in the future. but what fun would that be? I was wondering why Melissa’s so called friends were giving her such strange looks when she told them about her book deal. minus 22 . Don’t get me wrong. I think writing a book titled “Love Italian Style: Secrets to My Hot and Happy Marriage” is arrogant if nothing else but these are suppose to be her closest friends. Shouldn’t they have at least faked being reasonably happy for her? Apparently Melissa’s friends weren’t all that friendly. Jan, her former bridesmaid was happy to share with Kim D and Teresa that Melissa was supposedly cheating on her hubby. Minus 18 . Melissa and Teresa have some of the sleaziest friends. Put Jan, Kim D., and that scary looking realtor together that’s one creepy looking circle of friends. Or maybe it’s just way too much Botox all in one place. I was kind of surprised that Melissa confronted Kim D but I guess she had her own posse surrounding her at the time. Plus 11. Scarier was the way Jacqueline reacted. She couldn’t keep her mouth shut. Minus 9 . The slide into crazy town continued. However Melissa ended up with some of the best lines of the night, including telling Kim D: “This year I’m a cheater. Last year I’m a stripper. Next year I’m gonna murder all your kids.” and my favorite: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, go jump off the GWB.” (That’s the G eorge W ashington B ridge for those not in the know.) Plus 25. I’m certainly not wishing bodily harm on anyone but if I never had to lay eyes on Kim D again it would still be too soon. On the flip side we got to watch the Gorgas and the Wakiles attempt a sexy strip tease. Minus 15 because doing it with the other couple watching was just plain weird…and Rich really did look like someone shot him in the leg. Caroline appeared to be far away from all the fun. The problem was that even Albert was questioning her motives for staying in Hoboken. Minus 13 . It’s hard to convince anyone she’s not doing it to be closer to her kids. And on a side note…why did the Guidices need to make 800 lbs of sausage. Doesn’t that seem a little excessive? But it looks like the whole gang will be heading to a castle in the mountains next week. Is it a retreat, an intervention, or a ticking time bomb? Tune back in to find out. Episode total = -40! Season total = -237!
A good season finale opens the chest of things you didn’t know you’d been thinking all season. Tonight’s Season 6 finale of Mad Men did just that. While this season seemed as glacial as Matthew Weiner’s storytelling can get, and the finale wasn’t particularly revelatory (though it wasn’t uneventful), it really clued us in to what this season – and in fact, the whole show – is driving at. It’s about past vs. future. The future is volatile. It’s as uncertain as anything can get. Don is so scared of it that fact, he sabotages everything just to maintain some control over it. And the past, that pesky horrible flicker in the distant background, well it’s equally as disastrous, but in the end it’s just about the only thing we know for certain. Ignoring it only leads to more pain. In Care Of finds Don finally reaching the realization that if he doesn’t learn to restrain his self-destruction, his life will spiral. Don has been turning to drinking – and alone, no less – as a respite from his confused self-hatred. And finally, after ending up in the drunk tank for punching a minister, he decides “enough is enough.” Time to build a future. Of course, Don’s way of building a future is stealing it from someone else. He did it when he became Don Draper, and now he’s doing it with Stan Rizzo. Rizzo volunteers to be put on the Sunkist account in order that he can go to California and start a satellite agency, and when Don realizes he needs a shakeup, he figures that sounds like a good plan. Megan, of course, takes very little convincing. But when Ted tells Don that he wants to go to California himself, in order to escape his love for Peggy and keep his family together, it incites something profound. At first, Don says no. He’s sorry, but the gears are already in motion. Megan is being written off her show, plans are being made. But then, Don has a realization: Ted – this timid, scared man – is in danger of ruining his life. Like Don ruined his. During a pitch meeting with Hershey, Don reveals to the clients, and to his partners, some deeply locked away portions of his childhood that he’d never told anyone. He was raised in a whore house – not by a loving father like the version of himself in his pitch to Hershey – where nobody cared about him. The only sweetness in his life was the Hershey bar he earned from stealing money out of Johns’ wallets. This is not the first time Don has sabotaged a pitch meeting with his wild impulses, but it is the first time that he seems to have had a true catharsis doing it. Until this very moment, all of his erratic behavior has been destructive. It has been a way to influence the future – however negatively. Now, for the first time, he is embracing the past; dealing with his pain; confronting it, publicly. After Hershey leaves, he tells Ted he can have California. After all, Ted is trying to right his wrong. Not that he acted on his feelings for Peggy but that he has them in the first place. That’s a consideration Don never seems to have even realized existed. It’s big. And it hit Don hard. After an entire season of finding Ted to be an annoying pest that he could more or less walk all over, he now sees him as a man at a crossroads, and one that Don himself was on without even knowing it. So Don tells Megan that they’re not going to California after all. And of course Megan, who has always been just a piece of furniture unluckily positioned in Don’s blast radius, is justifiably upset. Final straws are being pulled. And just when Don has taken his first step toward finding himself. Megan leaves in a huff, possibly forever. And the next morning, Don shows up to work to find out he’s been unceremoniously canned. Another final straw has been pulled. So Don, without a wife or a job, has finally shed all the things that comprised his future. He has nothing left to destroy. Nobody to cheat on. No accounts to sabotage. Finally Don can work on his past. Sally, who told her father this season that she realized she knows nothing about him, is about to learn. The final scene of the season finds Don showing his three kids where he grew up. That he’s Dick Whitman. The secret that ruined his marriage with Betty, that threatened his job, that he has done countless horrible things to protect, is no longer a secret. It’s him. OTHER NOTES: It wouldn’t surprise me if Betty comes back into the picture next season. Weiner and his staff are great at making little things that seemed to just be scenery along the road turn out to be clues to major themes and plot details. The fact that Don and Betty had that nice little trip together as a family again, that they slept together again, compounded with Don’s embracing of his troubled past, suggests that him and Betty may get back together. Of course, it could also be a red herring. Poor Rizzo. Even when Don, who stole his idea, gives it away, he doesn’t even give it back to its rightful owner. He gives it to Ted. Peggy said something very poignant at the end of the episode. When Ted tells her she’ll realize he made the right decision, she tells him that it must be nice to be able to make decisions. Peggy has grown so much as a character, it’s tough to see her continue to be thrown around so much. SC&P is an entity without a spine now. Don is the entire reason the merger happened and the new business was created. He’s also the reason Sunkist won out over Ocean Spray. While he agreed to let Draper remain out of the new Name, Don really is the foundation of it. It will be very interesting to see what Don’s embracing of his past holds for his future. While he was told he could come back to work in a few months, that probably isn’t true. And for the sake of compelling storytelling, I hope it isn’t. The future is as uncertain as ever.
A good season finale opens the chest of things you didn’t know you’d been thinking all season. Tonight’s Season 6 finale of Mad Men did just that. While this season seemed as glacial as Matthew Weiner’s storytelling can get, and the finale wasn’t particularly revelatory (though it wasn’t uneventful), it really clued us in to what this season – and in fact, the whole show – is driving at. It’s about past vs. future. The future is volatile. It’s as uncertain as anything can get. Don is so scared of it that fact, he sabotages everything just to maintain some control over it. And the past, that pesky horrible flicker in the distant background, well it’s equally as disastrous, but in the end it’s just about the only thing we know for certain. Ignoring it only leads to more pain. In Care Of finds Don finally reaching the realization that if he doesn’t learn to restrain his self-destruction, his life will spiral. Don has been turning to drinking – and alone, no less – as a respite from his confused self-hatred. And finally, after ending up in the drunk tank for punching a minister, he decides “enough is enough.” Time to build a future. Of course, Don’s way of building a future is stealing it from someone else. He did it when he became Don Draper, and now he’s doing it with Stan Rizzo. Rizzo volunteers to be put on the Sunkist account in order that he can go to California and start a satellite agency, and when Don realizes he needs a shakeup, he figures that sounds like a good plan. Megan, of course, takes very little convincing. But when Ted tells Don that he wants to go to California himself, in order to escape his love for Peggy and keep his family together, it incites something profound. At first, Don says no. He’s sorry, but the gears are already in motion. Megan is being written off her show, plans are being made. But then, Don has a realization: Ted – this timid, scared man – is in danger of ruining his life. Like Don ruined his. During a pitch meeting with Hershey, Don reveals to the clients, and to his partners, some deeply locked away portions of his childhood that he’d never told anyone. He was raised in a whore house – not by a loving father like the version of himself in his pitch to Hershey – where nobody cared about him. The only sweetness in his life was the Hershey bar he earned from stealing money out of Johns’ wallets. This is not the first time Don has sabotaged a pitch meeting with his wild impulses, but it is the first time that he seems to have had a true catharsis doing it. Until this very moment, all of his erratic behavior has been destructive. It has been a way to influence the future – however negatively. Now, for the first time, he is embracing the past; dealing with his pain; confronting it, publicly. After Hershey leaves, he tells Ted he can have California. After all, Ted is trying to right his wrong. Not that he acted on his feelings for Peggy but that he has them in the first place. That’s a consideration Don never seems to have even realized existed. It’s big. And it hit Don hard. After an entire season of finding Ted to be an annoying pest that he could more or less walk all over, he now sees him as a man at a crossroads, and one that Don himself was on without even knowing it. So Don tells Megan that they’re not going to California after all. And of course Megan, who has always been just a piece of furniture unluckily positioned in Don’s blast radius, is justifiably upset. Final straws are being pulled. And just when Don has taken his first step toward finding himself. Megan leaves in a huff, possibly forever. And the next morning, Don shows up to work to find out he’s been unceremoniously canned. Another final straw has been pulled. So Don, without a wife or a job, has finally shed all the things that comprised his future. He has nothing left to destroy. Nobody to cheat on. No accounts to sabotage. Finally Don can work on his past. Sally, who told her father this season that she realized she knows nothing about him, is about to learn. The final scene of the season finds Don showing his three kids where he grew up. That he’s Dick Whitman. The secret that ruined his marriage with Betty, that threatened his job, that he has done countless horrible things to protect, is no longer a secret. It’s him. OTHER NOTES: It wouldn’t surprise me if Betty comes back into the picture next season. Weiner and his staff are great at making little things that seemed to just be scenery along the road turn out to be clues to major themes and plot details. The fact that Don and Betty had that nice little trip together as a family again, that they slept together again, compounded with Don’s embracing of his troubled past, suggests that him and Betty may get back together. Of course, it could also be a red herring. Poor Rizzo. Even when Don, who stole his idea, gives it away, he doesn’t even give it back to its rightful owner. He gives it to Ted. Peggy said something very poignant at the end of the episode. When Ted tells her she’ll realize he made the right decision, she tells him that it must be nice to be able to make decisions. Peggy has grown so much as a character, it’s tough to see her continue to be thrown around so much. SC&P is an entity without a spine now. Don is the entire reason the merger happened and the new business was created. He’s also the reason Sunkist won out over Ocean Spray. While he agreed to let Draper remain out of the new Name, Don really is the foundation of it. It will be very interesting to see what Don’s embracing of his past holds for his future. While he was told he could come back to work in a few months, that probably isn’t true. And for the sake of compelling storytelling, I hope it isn’t. The future is as uncertain as ever.
