“Real Housewives of New Jersey” alum Dina Manzo’s daughter, Lexi Manzo, accused her aunt Caroline Manzo of “betrayal” following her stepfather Tommy Manzo’s prison sentencing.
On Thursday, the 23-year-old got candid about how Caroline — who is her mom’s sister and married to Tommy’s brother Albert — allegedly chose to support Tommy over Dina when they separated in 2012 via a blog post titled “Don’t Poke the Bear.”
“The fallout from my mother’s marriage to Tommy is a complex tapestry of emotions and betrayals,” she wrote. “I find myself at a perpetual loss to understand how the man who tormented my mother garnered the support of my own family.”
Lexi explained Caroline, 63, was “more than an aunt” to her, adding, “She often rocked me to sleep as a child and stepped in as a second mother, welcoming us into her home during the uncertain period following my mother’s separation from my father.”
“Yet, in a staggering betrayal she would later choose the side of my mothers (sic) abuser and go as far as writing a character letter in defense of Tommy.
“What could compel someone to form an alliance with a felon over their own blood?”
Lexi shared that Caroline’s marriage to Albert in 1984 made her and Dina, 52, “‘family’ from the start” with Tommy, 59.
The blogger added that her mom’s relationship with Tommy didn’t turn romantic until the ’90s. They eventually married in 2005 before calling it quits in 2012 and finalizing their divorce in 2015.
Lexi described her stepfather as someone she feared, who was manipulative, “a workaholic” and “notorious cheater.”
She also opened up about how the businessman’s “rage” manifested in “unspeakable violence” after Dina moved on with her now-husband, Dave Cantin, in 2015.
Lexi claimed Tommy “violently shook” her awake one winter morning and gave her half an hour to grab her belongings and “get the f–k out.”
She recalled being “forcibly” evicted from her family home and losing “irreplaceable heirlooms.”
“Tommy’s rage continued to manifest into acts of unspeakable violence,” she added.
In 2015, Tommy hired a member of the Lucchese crime family John Perna to attack Cantin out of jealousy.
The horrific incident left the Bravolebrity’s husband bloody and bruised after he was assaulted with a slapjack in the parking lot of a strip mall in New Jersey.
Prosecutors claimed Tommy hired the attacker because he “was outraged that his former wife became romantically involved with another man.”
Perna served three years in prison and was released in 2023.
Tommy, however, was found guilty of falsifying and concealing documents, committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering activity and conspiracy in June.
On Oct. 16, he was sentenced to seven years in prison and three years of supervised release.
Dina, who briefly spoke about the sentencing on Instagram, tied the knot with Cantin in 2017.
