I Hate Jill Zarin Teresa Giudice on The View August 2, 2010

 Hate Jill Zarin                     Teresa Giudice on the View        August 2, 2010

If you missed Teresa Giudice’s appearance on The View, you missed her scripted answers to questions that she anticipated, however, there were clearly others that she wasn’t expecting. 

It was obvious that she was prepared to answer the reason why she and Juicy Joe had to file bankruptcy.  The View hosts and guest hosts didn’t allow her to recite her speech as prepared but she was eventually able to get her TWO REASONS for the bankruptcy on the air.  I’m going to go into more detail about her two reasons but first let’s talk about the chaos that was the show.

First of all it was crystal clear to me that Teresa had not seen the “introduction” that was read by Elisabeth Hasslebeck prior to sitting her ass in the chair.  Elisabeth said “Teresa never had a problem spending money from lavish homes to plastic surgery until now, turns out her family is $11 million dollars in debt and she claims she had no idea…. Let’s ask Teresa” 

This was not the inviting and charming introduction that we typically see on The View.  When Bethenny was introduced, for example, she was described as a new mom, star of her own reality series, etc.  Teresa’s introduction was a slap in the face from the start and Teresa’s face reflected that.  It was all she could do to smile when the camera hit her face.   

Missing on the show were Sherry Shepard and Whoopi Goldberg which was probably a plus for Teresa, however, the two men who served as guest hosts, Mario ____ and Bryant Gumble had done their homework.  They didn’t sit quietly not knowing what was going on, they knew the score and asked the right questions, particularly Gumble, this guy is no dummy and he’s interviewed hundreds of celebrities. 

The first question that was presented to Teresa by Elisabeth was whether or not Teresa knew about their financially problems.  Elisabeth said, “You had no idea?”  She didn’t answer that question, she went right into her pre-planned speech about WHY they filed bankruptcy.  Question two was from Joy Behar, “Is your husband a slumlord?”   Teresa said, “Slumlord?”  Quite honestly, I find it hard to believe that Teresa doesn’t know what a slumlord is, instead of being outraged by the reference to slumlord, Teresa was stumped! 

Bryant Gumble was even more brutal in asking how they got to $11 million and after Teresa’s first response that it was all in the buildings, her response changed and Teresa tried to say that amount is exaggerated.  (sorry Teresa, everyone has seen the breakdown of the dollar amounts, it all adds to almost $11 million) 

Teresa contradicted herself and was actually let off easily.  Why didn’t they ask her what became of these huge apartment buildings?  Did they go into foreclosure?  What about the beach house she talked about during Season One?  No one asked her about her expensive housewarming party, her shopping spree with her daughter ($2,000) or her daughter’s birthday party, all lavish and over-the-top expenses that were not necessary if there were money issues. 

Teresa told the panel that she “always lived within her means”.  She claims that the money was coming in from the apartment buildings and that is why she was spending only what was coming in.  Mario asked Teresa if she is currently watching what she is spending.  Teresa tells us that she’s using a debit card now and no longer uses credit cards.  Why do you suppose that is?  When you file bankruptcy, your credit card holders tend to cut off your credit Teresa, most people know that. 

Unfortunately, an $11 million dollar debt does not hit a business overnight.  The home that we watched her move into just last season along with the furnishings that she bought and paid for in cash were only months before filing the bankruptcy (October 2009).  A year at the most. 

Teresa had two reasons that she provided for filing the bankruptcy.  The first was that she and Joe owned four huge apartment buildings and that the residents of these buildings all lost their jobs and stopped paying rent. 

Bad news for Teresa is that Residential Multi-Family Real Estate is my business!  The apartment industry did take some hits due to the economy but were more than made up for by the increase in apartment rentals due to people losing their homes and downsizing into apartments.  For every person who lost their job and were no longer able to pay their rent then vacated the apartment, we would get a renter who just lost their home to a foreclosure.  Additionally, when people lose their jobs, there are lots of government programs to help out and it is against the law to discriminate against people who utilize government aid or social security as a source of income.  Therefore, the apartment industry was one that took the least amount of hits in the Real Estate industry. 

What is the status of these buildings now?  Did they all go into foreclosure?  Did the bank take ownership of these buildings?  Who managed these huge buildings?  What about this Partner that was partial owner of at least one of the buildings?  Teresa’s appearance today actually left more questions unanswered than she explained. 

Teresa’s reason number two for filing the bankruptcy was that they were involved in a lawsuit with Joe’s former business partner.  Again, The View crew didn’t explore that question because reports we have seen indicated that Joe signed his partner’s name on a legal document.  Joe has indicated that he had permission to sign the loan documents.  Why didn’t they ask Teresa about that? 

Let’s also explore how Teresa can announce that she has always lived within her means, yet she also claims that Juicy Joe never told her about their financial problems until it was too late.   Too late for what?  The genius Teresa was going to fix the financial woes of Joe Giudice?  Damn, if only she’d known!  She doesn’t know what her “means” are, it is pretty obvious that she wasn’t spending within her means since she spent a fortune on parties, clothes and breast implants.

One thing I wanted to clear up is about the ring that Teresa wore on The View.  She was asked if it was real and the stone was at least 15-20 carats and clearly it was costume jewelry which is what Teresa said, she also tried to sneak in there that it was for sale on her web site.  This is NOT the same ring that Juicy Joe gave her for their anniversary.  

I think Teresa was probably hoping she would be able to plug her web site where she sells costume jewelry, t-shirts and girls hair accessories as well as her book.  I don’t think the folks at the View had the same ideas. 

Here is a little interview with Teresa that one of the View producers did before the show where you can see that the ring is not the same one as the Anniversary fake diamond:

http://theview.abc.go.com/videos/ViewTube

It was clear to me that Teresa’s attorney or PR person  gave Teresa scripted answers to certain questions, whether she’s telling the truth or not, we know it wasn’t in her words. 

Tonight is a new episode of Real Housewives of New Jersey and Dina is back for the Christening of Teresa’s fourth daughter.  As Godmother, I suppose we couldn’t avoid Dina.  Some of you may have seen my Twitter war with Dina last night.  She actually started it for a change, I was tweeting with another person on Twitter when Dina jumped in and attacked us both calling me an ass and saying that I needed to be put in my place…yes sir re!  Dina is just the person to do it too! 

In another blog I’ll go into the detail of my original argument with Dina, suffice to say for now that Dina Manzo is a coward, she tweets her mind, yes, but then she goes back an deletes what she says.

Until Next Time…..