Jacqueline Laurita is the Problem Between Dina Manzo and Her Siblings Chris Laurita and Caroline Manzo; Teresa Giudice Blogs That ‘Joe and I Are Great’ and That ‘My Heart is Still Broken for My Brother and His Family’ (Updated 10/16/2012)

Here is the full conversation between Jacqueline and Caroline in the final episode of season 1 after the infamous table flip went down:

C: That’s my family….

J: …You came to me and you were like, “I know what Dina is (here Chris immediately tries to stop Jacqueline from continuing the conversation, but Jacqueline was not paying him any mind and continues), don’t you think I know what she is, I know”…..

(cuts to TH of Danielle)

Conversation resumes:

J: …You were like, “Feel sorry for her, feel sorry.” How could I feel sorry for her when you know what she is? (Here, someone, I believe Chris, begins to lightly whistle in an effort to stop the conversation.)

C: Because you’re wrong….

(again cuts to TH of Danielle)

Conversation resumes:

J: …You said you knew too (Caroline is repeating “Jacqueline, Jacqueline”… but Jacqueline continues with a sly grin, pointing at Caroline) …and your husband said he knew……

C: Jacqueline, you know who you’re hurting? My parents…..

Talking head interviews:

Jacqueline in her TH: In the end I feel good that I told the truth as I saw it. I just hope that they can love and respect and accept me for the decisions that I make.

Dina in her TH: Jacqueline, obviously, was misinformed. Here’s my thing: you wanna stick up for your friend, that’s great, I admire that, but know what you’re talking about first.

Caroline in her TH: Has it affected my relationship with Jacqueline? Probably not. Has it affected Dina’s relationship with Jacqueline? Yes. Does it bother me? Absolutely.

At the end, when Danielle is outside with her daughters:

Danielle: See what happens to Dina when she messes with me — her own family turned against her on that one.

Jacqueline Laurita is the problem between Dina and her siblings Chris Laurita and Caroline Manzo:

Jacqueline clearly turned on Dina during the dinner at the season 1 finale where Danielle Staub’s book was brought out in the open and Teresa subsequently flipped a table. Here are bits of the argument:

Teresa: Should we tell the kids to go outside, so they don’t here the discussion? [No one else seems concerned about it and Danielle says her kids can stay.]

Danielle: I know Dina revealed the book… and I know that her sister Caroline was with her on that day.

Caroline: I’m the one that told them (Jacqueline turns to look at Chris).

Danielle: That’s not what I heard.

Dina to Danielle: You told a vicious lie that could hurt me and my child (Jacqueline smirks).

Caroline: I took it to Chateau (Jacqueline, opens mouth, turns to Chris).

Jacqueline to Caroline and Dina: You two came into the salon and were showing it to everyone. The same person who told me told her.

Dina and Jacqueline argue, Jacqueline says to Dina: You’re trying to act like you had nothing to do with it… you’re lying.

Dina to Jacqueline: You are two faced, two faced. You’re not her friend (points to Danielle).

Jacqueline to Dina: You’re two faced!

Jacqueline pointing her finger at Dina: You’re such a liar Dina! I’m not covering for you anymore.

Dina to Jacqueline: You’re not. You never did.

Caroline to Jacqueline: Jacqueline, enough.

Jacqueline: I’m not lying.

At the end of the heated exchanged (see the full conversation at the top of this article):

Jacqueline to Caroline: I know you begged me not to tell the truth (Caroline leans over and says “Jacqueline!”), but that’s not fair.

Caroline in her TH: I understood where Chris was coming from. He had to diffuse the situation; he’s in an uncomfortable spot. It’s his wife. It’s his sister. It’s his wife’s good friend.

Caroline: You know who you’re hurting? My parents, Jacqueline.

Jacqueline: Family or not, what’s right is right, what’s true is true.

Jacqueline has intentionally tried to hurt Dina since season 1 premiered, and she is the reason that Dina is not speaking to her brother, because, as Jacqueline’s husband, he did nothing to stop her. Caroline also stood by and did nothing to stop Jacqueline’s attempts to hurt Dina, and this is why Dina also is not speaking to Caroline.

Jacqueline, holding a grudge against Dina, gave Danielle all the information about Dina’s custody issue so she could use it as ammunition against Dina. Remember during season 2 that Jacqueline said it was Dina going after Danielle, but it was really Caroline. Jacqueline stabbed Dina in the back and caused trouble with her custody issue… how’s that for a loyal sister-in-law (no wonder she defends Melissa over her long-time friend Teresa — they are two peas in a pod)? Another theory is that Danielle didn’t go to the producers to try to cause problems for Dina: it was Lexi’s aunt who asked Danielle about it and Danielle confirmed that both parent’s needed to give permission for Lexi to be on camera, and then Danielle gave the aunt the producer’s number, which she gave to Lexi’s father. At the reunion, Caroline was crying and saying, ‘You know what you did!’, and was pointing at Danielle. She was overly dramatic and never actually revealed what the problem was, which is her M.O. Caroline was the one who was upset when it should have been Dina, who was trying to stop them from talking about it. Caroline spun that story likes she spins everything, and both Jacqueline and Caroline were the ones stirring the pot and bringing up on camera Dina’s custody issue, which she wanted to remain private. [See comments from IMDb.com about this at the end of this article].

In September 2010, Jacqueline, holding a grudge against Dina, went to LynnNChicago with a story that Dina’s Project Ladybug Foundation was not legit; it caused Dina a lot of problems just as the project was getting up and running; and, to make matters worse, Caroline did not back Dina. 

Apparently there was an issue with Dina’s charity where something was filled out incorrectly on a tax form — it was a mistake, which was being corrected, but Jacqueline, hiding behind the title of ‘inside source’, gave the story to LynnNChicago. She made it seem like Dina’s charity was a fraud. Caroline wasn’t saying or doing anything to stop the bad press Dina was receiving. Then Dina went on Caroline’s Twitter page and tweeted support for herself as Caroline. In response, Lauren (or Ashley) went and said that Caroline’s Twitter had been hacked (basically denying that they were supporting Dina).

According to another insider — again, most likely Jacqueline: “Project Ladybug was a charity started by ALL the Laurita sisters. When Dina went on the show [RHONJ], she took it over as if she was the founder and the blood, sweat, and tears behind it. She wanted the glory and the attention associated with Project Ladybug. She wanted to look like the hero.” Caroline and their other sister, Cookie Laurita, allowed Dina to take the lead and downplayed their involvement, but Dina “only speaks of Project Ladybug as if it were her own.”

Bottom line: the source for the LynnNChicago blog about Dina’s charity is Jacqueline, and Jacqueline would not have planted this story without Caroline’s backing.

Jacqueline has always had a nasty habit of running to the press and being an insider on different stories. She will go to magazines, blogs, and will even direct message people on Twitter. When she does this, she will often say nasty things, depending on who she is mad at or how she is feeling.

“If I get hurt I get nasty, and I got nasty because I was hurt.” – Jacqueline Laurita, Season 4 Episode 15

Here are excerpts from stories about Project Ladybug, all written because of the rumors being spread by Jacqueline to hurt Dina [more on it here]:

“Dina Manzo’s temper got the better of her once again this week as people have been questioning her Project Ladybug charity. A document that I posted a few days ago, that I received from a Twitter friend (@Geoaubsmom), has sparked the interest of many people questioning how their donations to Project Ladybug are being used… Between the parody accounts and the Project Ladybug.pdf getting tweeted often by me to followers, different people, including Dina, she got fed up. Dina started on a tirade about haters and tweetholes… If Project Ladybug is completely legitimate, Dina Manzo should have nothing to hide; her anger and using sick children to gain sympathy for her cause really has to make you question what she’s doing here.” – Lynn Hudson, September 29, 2010, LynnNChicago101.wordpress.com (The Story That Started Charitygate)

“In an internet radio interview, @Geoaubsmom asked Jacqueline Laurita outright on Twitter if she heard the recent interview that Carly Hall did regarding Dina Manzo’s Project Ladybug Charity. Here is Jacqueline’s response on October 17, 2010: @JacLaurita: @geoaubsmom ‘I have. What do you expect me to say? I’m not getting involved in that. So I will just say, NO COMMENT to all those asking’.” – Lynn Hudson, October 18, 2010, LynnNChicago101.wordpress.com

“LynnNChicago has added to ‘Project Ladybug Woes’ on her site. It has now become a collection of document(s) and screen-shots of bizarre TWITTER messages. People who have made innocent (ok, maybe skeptically innocent) inquiries into the PL (PROJECT LADYBUG) financials have been met with emotionally charged messages, like ‘you are trying to hurt sick children!!!’ to THREATS that they have been reported to ‘authorities’. Lynn’s blog is abuzz with talk of PL today, and one commenter posted a link to a recent newspaper article (August 2010) that boasts donations of $20,000.” – Dina’s Still Being Pestered About PROJECT LADYBUG, September 30, 2010, North Jersey.com

Jacqueline gave an exclusive interview to LynnNChicago, published on April 23, 2012, where she spread more rumors about Dina:

“There is a Trump connection, they have the same publicist company and the charity that Teresa is playing for is also Trump’s” Jac told me.

Fascinating! Jacqueline told us that Teresa’s Celebrity Apprentice charity NephCure Foundation is one that is near and dear to Trump and that Teresa may have chosen it with a little nudge from Trump’s people as she met this family at a Trump event. Regardless of why she chose it, it is an excellent charity.

Jacqueline confirmed that Dina Manzo had hopes that Teresa would chose her charity, “Project Ladybug” and that it would explain why Dina broke her vow to avoid all of the Jersey Housewives and film with Teresa.

Jacqueline brought up Dina Manzo, she told me that her sister-in-law doesn’t speak to any of the Housewives,

“Dina doesn’t talk to any of us anymore, she decided to stay away from all of us that were involved with the show, she wanted to be on her own”.

Before I could ask about Dina’s involvement with Teresa, Jacqueline offered,

“Teresa reached out to Dina and I still don’t know why Dina agreed to film with her, they’re not friends now.”

I asked Jacqueline what she thought of Dina’s show, “well, it got picked up for another season” was all I could get out of her.

Jacqueline may also be holding a grudge against Dina because Dina was good friends with Chris Laurita’s fiancé, who Chris left for Jacqueline because she got pregnant by him during their affair in Las Vegas while he was engaged. According to tweets from Danielle Staub in October/November 2011, Jacqueline “took her now husband from Jen his fiance”; Jen was Danielle’s “nail girl” and “Dina Manzo’s then best friend”; both Jen and Dina worked at Nisha. Apparently Chris Laurita was in a relationship with one of Dina Manzo’s friends, Jen (who worked at Nisha), when he met Jacqueline, and he cheated on Jen with Jacqueline. This may be why Dina never got along with Jacqueline because, in Dina’s mind, she broke up her friend’s relationship with her brother.

“Jacqueline took her now husband from Jen his fiancé... Jen told me all about Jacqueline when she was my nail girl and Dina Manzo’s then best friend (both worked at Nisha).” – Danielle Staub, October 10, 2011, Twitter

During part 3 of the season 4 reunion special, Dina Manzo tweeted her frustration with Chris Laurita and Caroline Manzo and said that it has nothing to do with Teresa Giudice:

“#bullshit #bullshit #bullshit. I have 11 siblings I stay away from 2 of them. Do the math. I’m not going to say negative things about my siblings & go into why we don’t speak. But it’s not fair how they portray me as they bad guy. Not fair at all and it only fuels the hurt… I’ll end it at that. Turning the tv off now. Do you think for a second if I felt love from them I would stay away?? This has nothing to do with Teresa BTW.” – Dina Manzo, October 13, 2012, Twitter (During the Premiere of Part 3 of the Season 4 Reunion Special)

On October 15, 2012, in Teresa Giudice’s final Bravo blog for season 4, she says that she and Joe are great and her heart is still broken for her brother and his family:

“I’ve found that the people that are my true fans, who stick by me, encourage me, and have become part of my new extended family aren’t blindly part of ‘Teresa’s Army’ — it’s actually the opposite. They’re the ones who’ve taken the time to look at the whole picture and know a real person isn’t just one catchphrase or comment or scene or mistake. Thank you all. I am YOUR loyal fan!

“And so our season is over! Thank goodness! It was a rough one, at least for me. (Again.) It does make me sad that the other women on my show all wanted to get together to try and take me down. But I guess it’s nothing new. Every city seems to have a Housewife that the other cast members suddenly stop getting along with — Bethenny, NeNe, Lisa — but they shake it off and keep being successful. So at least I’m in good company!

“I’m not proud of how I let the other women get to me at the reunion, how I lashed back and said things I regret now. I wish I had more control, I tried to stay in control, but I had just let the entire season of them saying things behind my back and plotting against me get to me. It’s hard to shrug off when it’s family. It built up, and I didn’t handle it perfectly. I wish I had. I wish I was perfect, but I’m not. But I’m not going to beat myself up about it, and I’m not going to let the bad get me down.

“My Juicy Joe and I are great. He’s still my best friend and my rock. One of the best things about him is that he just doesn’t care about the B.S. You need people like that in your life, especially if you work in the B.S. Industry! And my girls, my beautiful gorgeous girls, are great! My baby Audriana just turned 3, can you believe it? And my Gia is almost 12!

“My heart is still broken for my brother and his family. Only time will tell what the future holds for us. Right now, I just can’t look back.

“You know, there was this movie when I was kid in the ‘70s called The Gumball Rally where these guys were all racing across the country and Franco, the Italian guy, says, ‘And now, my friend, the first rule of Italian driving,’ and then rips off the rearview mirror from his car. ‘What’s behind me is not important,’ he says. I always loved that scene, and it’s true. We have to keep looking forward to move forward. I’ve ripped off the rearview mirror. The road ahead is so exciting, and I hope you’ll stay on it with me!”

Related:

• Caroline Manzo Is Trying to Breakup Teresa Giudice’s Family Because She’s Convinced Herself That Teresa Broke Up Hers
• Tom Murro and Kim G. are Friends to the Manzo/Laurita Camp

Recap of Events from Seasons 3 and 4 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey

Jacqueline: “Teresa, she’s just starting to talk to her brother again and her sister-in-law and stuff. I’m gonna make sure they make up.”

Ashlee: “Is that your place though?”

Jacqueline: “They want that.”

Ashlee: “Why would you put yourself in the middle of a potentially bad situation?”

Jacqueline: “She asked me for help. She came to me and said, ‘Help me with this’.”

Ashlee: “You tend to care about people that could potentially backfire onto you. OK, you know what? Danielle. Danielle Staub, that’s all I’m saying.

Jacqueline: “So when my friend tries to talk to me about her brother, I’m supposed to say, ‘Don’t talk to me about your brother; you go deal with him’?”

Ashlee (exasperated): “OK, mom.”

Jacqueline: “I feel like they made a lot of progress with each other.”

Jacqueline’s father interjects:  “It’s up to them.”

Jacqueline: “If they want this to work, they’ll make it work.”

Jacqueline’s father: “You have to be careful what you say and how you say it.”

Jacqueline: “That’s what I’m saying.”

Jacqueline in her TTC:  “Ashlee’s trying to tell me to stay out of drama?! That’s a little hypocritical, compared to the drama she’s put Chris and I through in the past few years.”

Ashlee in her TTC:  “This is the thing about my mom: anywhere there’s drama she tries to put herself in it, no matter what it is. It’s like, come on — she was friends with Danielle for a reason.”

- Season 3 Episode 8, ‘Holidazed and Confused’ (Premiered July 10, 2011)

By HairLikeCher, Guest Blogger
October 6, 2012

There is so much evidence that Melissa Gorga IS the destruction of RHONJ — and the Gorga family — and it has been that way since before season one even aired. Shall we look at it?

• There was a blog (On Common Ground) that was discussing RHONJ prior to season one and it had an “anonymous” poster who claimed to be a close family member of Teresa’s and who was bashing her up and down. Another “anonymous” poster was talking about Teresa’s brother and more specifically about his wife and how beautiful she is, how young and successful they are, how big their house is, etc…and how if Teresa is anything like her brother then the show should be interesting. The comments were clearly Melissa. They were also posted minutes apart from each other.

• She wrote the song “On Display” before anyone even knew who she was. It is a narcissist’s anthem about how she is constantly plagued by paparazzi and jealous haters who are trying to take her down. That might have made sense if she wrote it AFTER she were already successful. However, her music career STILL hasn’t taken off enough to be considered successful. And I repeat, she wrote it while she was filming season three…nobody knew who the hell she was. So the lyrics are basically her fantasizing about what she wants. Drama.

“Melissa co-wrote the song ‘On Display’ before her first season on RHONJ aired, when only those within her tiny circle knew her name. It’s reasonable to imagine that Melissa was stalking Teresa’s whole life since 2008, the year season 1 was filmed, and wrote the lyrics as if she were Teresa. She had all the poses, smiles and red carpet interviews practiced for years in front of the mirror. She could ‘feel the weight of the world pushing down on her’ before she was on air! Imagine that.” – Obvious Lee, April 20, 2012, Reality Tea.

• Her introduction to the show was the Christening episode. Her, her husband, her sisters and her brothers-in-law attacking Teresa. Verbally and physically.

• There was the speculation that she had contacted Danielle behind Teresa’s back during season two to both feed her information about Teresa and to try and film with her. UNTIL she admitted it on camera and then it was no longer speculation, it was fact.

• For two seasons, Melissa has claimed that prior to getting on the show, she and Teresa were not speaking or getting along. Teresa has maintained that they absolutely WERE speaking. A lot of fans have questioned why Melissa would go on the show if she and Teresa were in a bad place to begin with, why would she bring their problems onto national TV? There was a very interesting comment on Teresa’s Facebook page from July 2009. It was from Lisa Marco-Simpson (Melissa’s sister) and it said something about them all having hung out together at the Jersey shore that weekend at the Giudice’s shore house and on their boat having a great time. She also mentioned that people were approaching Teresa for autographs and photos. This was prior to Melissa being cast on RHONJ and also during the time that she would have been pregnant with baby Joey. We already know that she contacted Danielle while she was pregnant with Joey because she admitted it on the show (she blamed it on her pregnancy hormones).

“Lysa Marco-Simpson spent the weekend with Teresa and the kids at her shore house! was so much fun with all the starstruck people asking for pictures at the beach. then we went to her house for spaghetti!” – Lysa Marco-Simpson, July 23, 2009 at 6:22 am, Facebook

But Lisa’s Facebook comment on July 23, 2009 (above) also proves that the Gorgas and the Giudices WERE, in fact, getting along and definitely speaking prior to Melissa being cast. How could they have all been hanging out at the shore if they weren’t even speaking? Yet Melissa told Teresa (when she admitted to contacting Danielle) that at the time she HATED her. She gave no reason for it though. If you look at what her sister said (about fans approaching Teresa) and consider that Melissa is without question a narcissist who cannot tolerate another person getting attention that she thinks SHE deserves, that provides the perfect motivation for her to go behind Teresa’s back and contact Danielle. Everything makes perfect sense based on that ONE comment from Lisa. Melissa was insane with envy so she contacted Danielle (the timeline even makes sense), gave her information to use against Teresa (which we saw at the season two reunion), schemed to get herself cast on the show behind Teresa’s back, lied about it by saying that they weren’t speaking (which is why Teresa has always said that they WERE speaking, because they were) and the rest is what we have seen since Melissa’s introduction at the Christening.

I honestly don’t understand how people believe a word that comes out of Melissa Gorga’s mouth. I never trusted her from the day she came on the show. She is a lying, manipulative snake, a textbook narcissist, and has no conscience. She loves herself so much that she believes everyone else loves her, too and therefore will just fall under her spell. This is why she thinks none of her many skeletons will come out or that she can just lie about them. Because she thinks she can just charm people into falling in love with her the way she is in love with herself. And because she is so jealous of the success and attention that she witnessed Teresa getting, she is motivated by her need to prove everyone that SHE is the one who truly deserves the attention. That’s why she copies everything Teresa does – to show that SHE can do it better. The way she dresses, wears her hair, does her makeup (just look at old pictures of her for evidence of this), the way she dresses her kids, the people she uses (photographers, stylists, hairdressers, etc), the comments about whose house is bigger, who throws better parties, whose husband works harder… Everything is a competition to her because she has to show everyone that SHE is better than Teresa therefore SHE deserves the attention. She is so consumed by this that she lies about anything in order to convey the illusion that she is the better woman.

Why would anyone believe a damn word that comes out of her mouth?

RHONJ is the only reality TV show I watch faithfully since season one episode one so I am unfamiliar with how other reality TV shows and other networks operate. While I do think that all cast members should be held accountable for their actions, what I see with this show is both actions and words being edited beyond any semblance of recognition and skewed to manipulate storylines and viewer’s attitudes. Bravo does this to create a villain and justify a gang up situation. They did it in seasons one and two with Danielle Staub and in seasons three and four with Teresa Giudice. It’s to the point where the word “reality” goes out the window. The level of production interference in Bravo’s programming makes these shows unreal – producers not just suggesting certain scenarios but digging people up out of the woodwork to create drama, befriending cast members, setting cast members up to take the fall for things they have not done, using “Frankenbiting” to put words in peoples mouths (Google it), showing scenes and whole episodes out of sequence in order to make things seems different than how they actually happened, etc. These are things that cast members cannot possibly be aware of when they sign their contracts. They might know about it now but probably not when they signed the dotted line.

The problem with what they did with Teresa is that the contrived “Teresa as the villain” scenario was too obvious. They brought in two of her family members as main cast members, introduced them by showing an all out brawl at what should have been a sacrosanct event, then slowly showed her two friends on the show turning against her and standing in solidarity with her family members. All while showing good editing for the other four cast members and bad editing for Teresa. We see nothing but Teresa’s flaws – her kids misbehaving while Melissa’s kids are shown being perfect angels, Teresa’s husband saying less than admirable things while we see Rich Wakile doting on Kathy or Melissa and Joe being sexy and fun, we see Teresa flubbing her speech, etc. Bravo makes a point of highlighting every one of Teresa’s missteps while concealing those of the other four.

There are many MANY times where a lot of this makes no sense at all. Especially for viewers who read blogs or are on Twitter because we see how these women behave off camera and it is not congruent to what Bravo wants us to think (meaning that Teresa is the bad guy and the others are victims). There is a double standard being used by Bravo (and the Manzos, Lauritas, Gorgas and Wakiles) against the Giudices where Teresa’s behavior is under intense, constant scrutiny and is subject to harsh criticism by anyone who wants to be her judge and her juror while the rest of them are given a free pass every time. Much of the time, the cast can’t even produce a reason why they are attacking Teresa – they allude to things, they say they have heard things but they can’t say where, they claim to have “proof” but they never reveal it. In most instances, whatever it is that Teresa has done or is being accused of doing is minor in comparison to the actions and behaviors of the other four. That’s why I agree with you that they ALL should be accountable for what they do. Yet they aren’t.

It is Bravo’s editing that allows them to get away with a lot of this bad behavior, Andy’s clear bias against Teresa that allows the gang mentality and the behaviors to be swept under the rug, and manipulation of viewers’ mindsets that has poisoned so many people against the Giudices unfairly.

It is the unfairness that makes me so “invested”, I suppose. I would never say that I care about these cast members lives more than they do or that I care about them more than my own life. But having watched since the beginning and seeing what has happened to Teresa both on and off camera, I am witnessing a fellow human being treated very unfairly from every direction including her own friends and family. That does not sit well with me. I’d feel the same way if it were happening to someone I know. And when a person is being treated that way, they deserve to have support from those who can see what is happening clearly. Lying, manipulation, hypocrisy, dishonesty, envy and greed do not deserve to prevail ever, especially when the truth is out there and someone works so hard to uphold it. Teresa has never changed since season one, her stories have never deviated, her values have remained unchanged, the details about who she is have remained constant and there are viewers who can see this.

I don’t think that everything that comes out of Melissa/Jacqueline/Caroline’s mouths is automatically a lie simply because I do not like them. But if you look to the past and compare what they are saying now to things that they have said before, much of what they say ARE lies. Provable lies. Either they are lying now or they were lying before because of the amount of times they contradict themselves. All of them.

So taking that all into account, I think there is no way that these cast members can be fully prepared for everything that Bravo is going to subject them to when they sign on to be on TV. And surely, Bravo is protected completely by its contracts which is why they get away with it. However, these people are not under contract to lie in interviews, on Twitter, on Facebook, or in the media. That is part of what makes me pro-Teresa. She is the only one with a proven track record of consistency in the things she says and does and yet she is the one taking a repeated beating over the absurd allegations from the other four. She is having her character and her family destroyed BECAUSE of the lies of the other women.