Dolores Catania set the record straight on why Rachel Fuda cropped out Teresa Giudice from “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” cast photo.
Ahead of season 14, Fuda posted an edited version of the cast photo that was released by Bravo. But her version did not include the RHONJ OG.
In a May 2024 interview, Catania said Fuda wasn’t being “petty” towards Giudice. Instead, she claimed it was simply payback after Giudice made the move first.
Here’s what you need to know:
Dolores Catania Said Rachel Fuda Sought Retaliation
In April 2024, Bravo released the RHONJ season 14 cast photo. The promotional shot featured cast members Melissa Gorga, Rachel Fuda, Margaret Josephs, Dolores Catania, Jennifer Aydin, Danielle Cabral, and Teresa Giudice dressed in purple or blue dresses. The photo was a rehash of the season 13 cast photo, Fuda’s first season on the show, with the women simply lined up in a different order.
Fuda also posted the cast photo on her Instagram page, but she cut Giudice out of it. “One month til we’re back 💃 Get excited! Season 14 of #RHONJ is right around the corner!” she wrote.
Giudice’s estranged sister-in-law Melissa Gorga reacted by posting” “☠️ ✔️.”
Addressing the situation on the May 5, 2024 episode of “Watch What Happens Live,” Catania said she wished Fuda hadn’t gone there.
“I wish that she hadn’t, but they had done that to her first,” Catania explained. “It wasn’t petty, it was it was retaliation. The first group, Teresa cropped out, it was everybody but me, Jen [Aydin] and her. So then Rachel… I’m not big on, you know, doing the same thing back because then it makes you wrong too. I like being able to say ‘Why’d you do that?’ You can’t say ‘Why’d you do that?’ when you did this. But yeah, it was a getting her back for her doing it.”
Teresa Giudice & Rachel Fuda Had a Blowout Fight on the RHONJ Season 14 Premiere
Cropped cast photos are the least of Giudice and Fuda’s issues with one another. On the RHONJ season 14 premiere, titled “Birthday Bombshell,” the two got into a huge blowout at Jenn Fessler’s 55th birthday party. Giudice and Fuda argued about their husbands, Louie Ruelas and John Fuda.
“You know what your husband said to my husband? ‘I have tremendous respect for your wife, because we both went to jail.’ Your husband is the biggest drug dealer in Bergen County,” Giudice alleged to Fuda. “So don’t come for my husband, because I will come for your husband.”
Giudice claimed John Fuda’s ex-wife told her about drug allegations and added that the stories were also “out on social media.”
In July 2023, John Fuda told Page Six that in 2008 he was arrested for drug possession. “I was never convicted, and charges were dismissed,” he told the outlet. “Some of the online trolls tried to twist this information.”
Immediately following the brutal RHONJ episode, he issued a press release. Fuda’s statement was titled: “John Fuda Responds to RHONJ Castmates’ Attempt to Disparage His Character.”
In the statement, the entrepreneur responded to “recent attempts by his fellow castmates on the Real Housewives of New Jersey to bring up his past in an effort to cast him in a negative light.”
“In recent episodes of RHONJ certain cast members have resorted to dredging on Mr. Fuda’s past in an apparent attempt to discredit him and undermine his reputation,” the press release read.
Fuda said in a statement, “While I’m not proud of every aspect of my history I’ve worked tirelessly to overcome challenges and strive for better for a better future. I refuse to be defined by my past mistakes. I’m grateful for the support of my friends family and fans who’ve seen me for who I am today— a person dedicated to growth, kindness and authenticity.”
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