Teresa Giudice had an on-air meltdown when she was quizzed on her tax woes during a painfully awkward interview on Friday.
The Real Housewives star, 52, who along with husband Luis Ruelas was hit with millions in tax liens earlier this year, hung up after she was asked why she ‘didn’t pay her taxes for years’ in an incendiary moment.
The Zoom interview on Chicago’s WGN News began pleasantly enough as the star was asked if she would be appearing in The Real Housewives of New Jersey reboot, to which she responded: ‘I hope. I’m the OG, yes. So we’ll see what happens.
You’ll have to ask Bravo for that.’
However, her smile soon faded as host Larry Potash quipped: ‘How is it that a family doesn’t pay their taxes for years?’
Giudice – who served 11 months in prison for mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud in 2015 – asked who he was referring to, and when Potash responded ‘your family’, her reaction was swift.
A visibly raging Giudice then said: ‘Okay, I’m done now’ before fumbling to hang up her phone.
The baffled hosts said: ‘She didn’t like that question! Isn’t that part of the show?’
In March it was revealed that reality star Giudice and Ruelas, 49, had over $3 million in New Jersey state tax liens placed on them.
Tax liens are a legal claim made on a person’s assets if they fail or refuse to fully pay their taxes. If they fail to pay the amount of the judgment, the government would be able to seize their assets.
According to the New Jersey Courts website, Teresa owes $303,889.20 in unpaid taxes in a judgement that was entered on March 20.
Luis owes several times that amount, after a judgment saying he owes $2,569,842.06 was entered on March 6.
That amount is on top of an earlier lien issued on December 12, 2024, for $163,523.94 in unpaid taxes.
Teresa’s former husband Joe Giudice was jailed for 41 months after he plead guilty in 2014 to 41 counts of bank, mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud.
He also admitted to not filing a tax return from 2004 through 2008.
Following his sentence, Joe was forced to move to Italy ahead of deportation hearings.
Teresa was ultimately sentenced to 15 months in federal prison.
Speaking on the March 30 episode of Casual Chaos, the former couple’s daughter Gia revealed she was not panicked, saying, ‘My mom has been the sole provider for my sisters and I since the minute my father left for prison.’
She went on to stress that mom Teresa has been ‘working her a** off to make sure that my sisters and I live a stable life and that my family is financially stable’ since she was freed from prison in December 2015.
‘I can’t stress enough how much my mom has worked,’ Gia said.
‘Everything will be resolved. My mom has everything under control and there’s nothing to worry about.’
‘My stepdad, Louis, is the most amazing stepfather,’ Gia continued. ‘He treats my sisters and I like we are his own. He is also working on getting everything resolved as well.’
Teresa and Joe are proud parents of four daughters – Gia, Gabriella, 20; Milania, 19; and Audriana, 15.
