Heavy/NBCUniversal Teresa Giudice.
Margaret Josephs sent a condolence message to Teresa Giudice on “The Real Housewives of New Jersey”— and fans had a big reaction.
As the penultimate season 14 episode, titled “Don’t Trial This At Home,” aired on July 28, 2024, the Bravo star shared a close-up photo of a funeral floral arrangement she sent to Giudice’s house when the OG filmed a scene with several of their other co-stars.
Some fans called Josephs’ move “savage” and said it would go down in the Housewives history books. But others thought the toxicity among the cast has gotten to be too much.
Josephs has been embroiled in a long feud with Giudice. The feud stemmed from Josephs’ alleged investigation into the questionable past of Giudice’s husband, Louie Ruelas. Josephs previously told the “Behind the Velvet Rope With David Yontef” podcast that she did not leak stories about Ruelas.
Margaret Josephs Mourned ‘The Death of Dignity’
In the RHONJ episode, Giudice called a meeting helmed by her lawyer James Leonard Jr. to talk about Josephs. RHONJ star Jenn Fessler gave Josephs a heads-up that her former friend was hosting a meeting to discredit her. In addition to Fessler, Dolores Catania, Jennifer Aydin, Jackie Goldschneider, and Danielle Cabral were invited to the meeting. Fessler ultimately decided not to go to the meeting after Josephs flipped out over the idea.
During the meeting, Giudice alleged that Josephs had been talking to someone from Ruelas’ past, presumably his ex-fiancée Vanessa Reiser, to spread negative information about him. Leonard was careful not to mention the name of the party from Ruelas’ past that he was referring to, but he namechecked Josephs for allegedly talking to this person to dig up dirt on Ruelas.
While Giudice teased, “This [part] will make your [expletive] head spin,” no one was shocked by the allegation that Ruelas’ ex was in contact with Josephs, because the rumors have been going on for years.
Midway through the meeting, a delivery man arrived with a funeral flower arrangement. The accompanying card was addressed to Giudice and Leonard and said: “With deepest sympathy, Sorry for the loss of your dignity. Love, love, love Margaret.”
Giudice refused the delivery and ordered the driver to take the flowers off of her property.
As the episode aired on the East Coast, Josephs posted a photo of the floral arrangement to Instagram with the caption, “The death of dignity RIP ☠️❤️😜#rhonj.”
Some fans said Josephs’ funeral flowers will go down in infamy.
“This was so savage I literally stood up and gave my television screen a round of applause 👏 👏👏👏 😂,” one commenter wrote.
“The Marge’s new nickname: The Undertaker,” another agreed.
“We need this floral arrangement in the clubhouse next to the bunny 😂👏🔥 you swept the floor clean with this move!” another chimed in.
But others felt the move was childish and vindictive.
“Gross. It’s just gotten too mean,” one viewer wrote.
“This is actually twisted 🤦🏻♀️,” another agreed of Josephs’ unwelcome condolence flowers.
Melissa Gorga Reacted to Margaret’s Flower Delivery
PeacockMelissa Gorga; RHONJ flower delivery driver.
Just after the RHONJ episode aired, Giudice’s estranged sister-in-law Melissa Gorga appeared on “Watch What Happens Live.” Gorga agreed with co-star Danielle Cabral that Joseph made a “savage” gangster move by sending the faux funeral flowers.
She also had a message for Josephs. “Margaret, you should have got two of those flower arrangements. One for each moron that was in that room,” Gorga said, referring to Giudice and her attorney. “They both needed one,” she told Bravo host Andy Cohen. “Well, you know what, there the letter was written to both of them, so you know what she’s good.”
Some fans commented to allege that that Gorga also has a past history with Leonard.
“Jim Leonard was also Melissa’s music manager and lawyer, funny how that wasn’t mentioned on Andy’s show,” one commenter wrote.
According to Romper, before Leonard defended Giudice and her ex-husband Joe in their bankruptcy fraud case a decade ago, he reportedly handled contract negotiations for Joe and Melissa Gorga and Kathy and Richie Wakile when they joined the cast of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.”
In the latest RHONJ episode, Leonard said he loves the whole family. “Listen, I love this family,” he said. “And [I’ll do] anything I can to continue to help and maybe make others understand what you’ve all been going through.”