Luis “Louie” Ruelas seemingly backtracked on his apology to “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Margaret Josephs after wishing ill on her son.
“How would you feel if someone wished your son to suffer?” an Instagram user commented beneath Ruelas’ photo with his youngest son, which the former posted Tuesday.
“I wouldn’t use my son as a story line [sic]! PATHETIC!” Ruelas — who is married to Josephs’ onscreen nemesis, Teresa Giudice — fired back in response.
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He has since disabled the comments on the post.
Ruelas, 49, made the remark in question during the Season 14 finale of the Bravo reality series, which aired earlier this month, while speaking with Giudice ahead of her explosive “Last Supper” with her co-stars.
After Giudice, 52, accused Josephs of talking to one of Ruelas’ exes and spreading negative allegations about him, he asked his wife how she planned to “navigate” her impending interaction with her foe.
“Tell her to stay away from our family. And you know what? I hope Margaret and her family suffer. You know, I hope her f–king son suffers the way I suffered, the way other people in our family have suffered,” Ruelas said.
He went on to call Josephs, 57, a “disgusting, vile human being” and “a real piece of garbage.”
Giudice agreed with her husband, arguing that their “kids suffered” as a result of Josephs’ alleged actions.
Following swift backlash from fans — and executive producer Andy Cohen — Ruelas issued a public apology via his Instagram Story.
The businessman began his lengthy mea culpa by claiming that it was “very tough for [him]” to watch the episode, adding that he was “disappointed in [his] actions in bringing up Margaret Josephs [sic] son.”
Ruelas went on to explain that he only brought up Josephs’ son — who has never appeared on the show and stays out of the spotlight — because he had been “falsely accused” of calling and threatening him at work during last season’s reunion, which he insisted was “simply not true.”
“For the last year Margaret kept putting this narrative out there that I called her son at work and I have had to deal with it knowing I am being lied on,” Ruelas told his followers before admitting that he “know[s] better” than to “bring someone’s child up.”
“It is something I deeply regret so I do want to apologize and acknowledge that I was wrong,” he wrote.
However, the father of two made sure to note that his family has also been “really impacted” by all of the “toxicity on the show” and “all that’s happened at the hands of certain people” — without naming names.
He concluded, “Two wrongs don’t make a right and I deeply regret saying what I said.”
