Why Did Bravo Issue a Gag Order to the Cast?

The Real Housewives of New Jersey ladies always deliver the goods when it comes to the series’ trademark drama. And like previous seasons, RHONJ Season 13 has been full of family drama between Teresa Giudice, her brother Joe, and her sister-in-law, Melissa Gorga. The three have been feuding for years and are not shy about it in the media. Unfortunately for the RHONJ cast, the family feud has gotten everyone in trouble with Bravo. As it turns out, the network has implemented a gag order on the entire cast — a move many viewers feel was long overdue.

Teresa Giudice has been feuding with Joe and Melissa Gorga for years

Die-hard RHONJ fans know Teresa and Melissa have feuded since season 3 (2011) when Melissa and her husband, Joe, joined the show. During Gorga’s son’s christening, Joe called Teresa “garbage,” sparking a full-on fight between the Giudices and the Gorgas. 

The following season, Teresa and Melissa got into another fight after Teresa’s then-husband branded Melissa a “gold-digger,” and Teresa supported him. In the September 2012 season 4 finale, Melissa learned that Teresa had conspired with Kim DePaola to make it appear like Melissa had worked as a stripper when she was younger. According to Us Weekly, when Joe discovered his sister had tried to ruin his wife’s reputation, he swore he would never speak to her again.

The family feud has been simmering for some time, despite repeated attempts at reconciliation. In recent seasons, the three have tried to get along better for the sake of their parents and kids. However, emotions remain high, and the fact that Melissa and Joe decided not to attend Teresa’s wedding to Luis Ruelas in 2022 made things worse.

Bravo has issued a gag order to the ‘RHONJ’ cast for the first time ever

While the Real Housewives franchise is known for drama, RHONJ Season 13 has been too much. And as it turns out, Bravo is taking extreme measures to get things back on track.

On March 23, Joe was a guest on Melissa’s podcast, “On Display.” While the two did take questions from fans, they studiously avoided those that pertained to their time on RHONJ. Melissa said they were skipping those questions to make things fun. However, Joe cut in on his wife and told the truth: they had received a gag order.

“We got a gag order for the first time ever because it’s Bravo. Let’s tell the truth,” Joe told his wife. “We’ve been on this show for 13 years, and we’ve never been on a gag order through Bravo. We’ve never had them say you cannot talk about the show, you cannot talk about anything. You can’t repost anything really about the show.”

Joe didn’t hold back, saying that Bravo had never done anything like this before and that something about this season was different. Melissa confirmed the gag order and stressed that the entire cast, not just the Gorgas, was subject to it.

“We all got a little slap on the wrist because, for some reason, this season has been really kooky, social media, people just getting kooky on social media,” she said. “There’s a lot of lies, a lot of false narratives out there.”

Given the cast’s history of social media feuds, private message sharing, and trolling to scare one another, Bravo’s extreme measures are not surprising.

What does the gag order mean for the ‘RHONJ’ cast?

In the podcast episode, Melissa also revealed that the RHONJ cast would no longer be seen reposting or sharing content from fan accounts. According to the mother of three, cast members are not allowed to share any content related to the show, including photos shared on social media, unless Bravo has cleared it.

“It’s just so weird this year. Everything’s different, and everything’s just like, different,” Melissa said on the show, and Joe agreed, saying this season was unlike any other. 

Melissa also explained that the season 13 reunion will answer any questions anyone may have about the season. It’s safe to assume that the rest of RHONJ Season 13 will be just as thrilling and eventful as the rest of the season thus far, thanks to Bravo’s gag order.

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