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Margaret Josephs is reacting to Jennifer Aydin‘s recent meltdown at Jersey Mike’s.
After the 47-year-old Real Housewives of New Jersey star went on a rant against a customer, calling him an “a**hole” as she deemed herself a “f*cking celebrity” and lashed out at a “slow” employee, Margaret, 57, admitted she was “mortified” by her co-star’s antics as she also addressed the recent split between Paige DeSorbo, 32, and Craig Conover, 35.
“I was actually in shock,” Margaret admitted on SiriusXM’s Reality Checked.
According to Margaret, she saw Jennifer two days before the incident.
“I was feeling empathetic towards her because she had come over to me. She was very cordial and she was very upset,” Margaret revealed. “We discussed stuff about the show and she was very upset, saying she’s always portrayed as the villain and that’s not who she is.”
Although Margaret said she and Jennifer chatted about the issue and were “very nice to each other,” she was taken aback by her videos at Jersey Mike’s.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ I had secondhand embarrassment. I was so upset. How can you shame people who are working so hard on New Year’s Day?” she wondered. “I was heartbroken that someone’s mother, these people are working so hard. They’re serving you, and you being so entitled … I actually was mortified. And then, all I’m thinking is you don’t wanna be portrayed as a villain, stop acting like one.”
While Margaret had thoughts about Jennifer’s behavior, she didn’t reach out after seeing her clips.
“We are not friends … We didn’t end on a good note, but of course, when I see anybody, well, most of my castmates … I’m cordial. It was the holiday. We’re in the same space,” Margaret noted. “She was with her sister-in-law. And even her sister-in-law said, ‘That’s not Jennifer. She’s a good person.’ And then I was like, ‘Obviously that is Jennifer.’ That’s exactly who she is because she thought that behavior was okay. She uploaded that video herself.”
As for Jennifer telling patrons she’s a “f*cking celebrity,” Margaret said, “None of us are celebrities. We’re on a reality show. We’re everyday people who just happen to be on camera.”
“I was embarrassed for her. And I’m embarrassed for her family that she behaves that way. And I think it’s embarrassing for our franchise that she behaves that way. And it’s not nice,” she explained.
Margaret went on to say Jennifer’s actions against Jersey Mike’s staff and customers were “very indicative” of her character.
“I was so heartbroken that she would speak this way about people, like belittling them as she’s going on a vacation, speaking this way,” Margaret added. “The people online were disgusted and she thought this was okay to post about. Like, why post about it? How do you think this is susceptible behavior?”
Moving on to Paige and Craig, Margaret said she was “sad” about the breakup.
“I adore them both, but I think they’re both very career-driven,” she explained. “Craig is very Charleston. He’s not moving here. I think Paige is very New York. She’s not moving there … I don’t think anything else was going on. I don’t think Paige was unfaithful like a lot of Bravo fans try and speculate. I think it’s very exactly what it seems to be. It didn’t work out … Timing was not right for them.”
In other RHONJ news, a source reached out to OK! Magazine on January 6 in defense of Jennifer.
“As someone who was there to witness the entire ordeal, I can’t believe how social media is portraying Jen,” the insider shared. “I was an onlooker to the entire situation and Jen was completely polite to the people at Jersey Mike’s at first.”
According to the insider, Jennifer allowed her cousin to get in front of her in line, which “annoyed” some customers. However, the cousin had already been in the restaurant but left before it was time to order.
Once the cousin returned, a woman who was behind Jennifer received her order first. But still, Jennifer was “polite,” simply asking why her order wasn’t made first.
Then, Jennifer realized she needed to place an additional order for a sandwich for her son, which upset a male customer behind her.
“Given the state of the world, who can blame Jen for hitting record?” they wondered. “Only at the point where he started threatening her with lawsuits is when she spoke up and said her husband was a plastic surgeon.”
As for her “celebrity” proclamation, the source claimed it was someone behind her who brought up her status.
“She in no way was traipsing around the restaurant lamenting about how she’s a celebrity and should get special behavior because of that. That is categorically false and entirely untrue,” they stated, adding that the man behind her “berated” her before she told him she could “buy him 10 times over.”
A second source also shared a statement with OK! Magazine, describing Jennifer as a “polite, wonderful person.”
“The person she is being villainized as is absolutely, 100 percent not her,” they insisted. “She would never use her ‘celebrity status’ to gain anything. That’s just not in her character.”
“Jen was extremely well-off prior to the franchise and RHONJ is not what made her,” the insider added. “She was well known and respected in the community long before this television show … The person they’re trying to make her to be — both on TV and with this current situation — that’s just not it.”
