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Gia Giudice is calling out Bethenny Frankel.
After the Real Housewives of New York City alum weighed in on news of Teresa Giudice and Luis Ruelas’ tax debt — and Gia’s defense of them — the 24-year-old is setting the record straight.
In a recent interview with PEOPLE, Gia says she will always have her family’s back.
“I was sticking up for my family, and you can love me or hate me for it, but I will do that all day, every day,” she explains. “And I'm honestly just over talking about it. There'll be a new thing next week, and I think she should just leave it at that too. I have three younger sisters who I'm trying to protect as well, and they don't need to see all of this in the public eye either."
"I get it, it's what we signed up for, but if people could refrain from saying things, that's all I was saying," she adds. "Just treat people the way you would want to be treated. There was no need.”
Frankel first spoke out on TikTok when news broke in March that Teresa and Ruelas were hit with $3 million in tax liens, ten years after the Real Housewives of New Jersey star served prison time for financial crimes.
Then, in a second video earlier this month, Frankel referred to an episode of the Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen After Show in 2022 in which Teresa revealed she and Ruelas were not signing a prenup before getting married.
“I almost jumped through my television because she wasn't signing a prenup,” the SkinnyGirl founder said in the video. “We're all aware of what happened with her in the past and mistakes that happened on television, and people, I guess, warned her about the guy that she's with, who I only met once, and he was very nice. He could be a wonderful guy. It could all be a mistake. I don't know if in fact they have tax issues, and they're not paying them, and she didn't sign a prenup.”
“One of the daughters did say that she didn't like that the father made the mother sign a prenup,” Frankel continued of Gia, who had made the comment about her father and Teresa’s ex, Joe Giudice. “She's just ill-advised and not educated on this topic. She just doesn't know. And hopefully she'll realize when she one day gets married, if that's something she wants, that it's about being financially literate.”
When she heard what Frankel had to say, Gia tells PEOPLE she and her family were “not happy.”
“At this point, her statement back, she was honestly trying to gaslight me,” Gia notes. “I didn't say half of the things that she made in her statement. I was never recommending financial advice or anything along those lines.”
She also expresses her gratitude for those who have stuck up for her and her family, like former Real Housewives of Miami cast member Ana Quincoces and RHONJ’s Jennifer Fessler and Dolores Catania.
“I think it's definitely a lot,” Gia adds. “I'm obviously associated with what is going on in the public eye. It is my family, but at the end of the day, I am an individual. I obviously take care of everything that's going on in my life, but overall, my entire family is very responsible. And like I said on my podcast, everything is getting taken care of. But at the end of the day, I will always defend my family whether people like it or not.”
Frankel later came out with a clarification, claiming that she only spoke on the situation in her videos, but someone published a fake quote from her that accused Gia of sharing financial advice online.
“It’s actually a well-written quote because AI wrote it, I just can’t claim it,” Frankel explained. “It’s not a read I can claim, I didn’t say it. It’s kind of going around and people are reporting on it. I don’t care in this case, I mean, what do I care?"
“I know that she’s an adult, but she’s someone’s kid and that’s weird, and I don’t get into that at all,” she concluded.
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