Boston radio personality Billy Costa has slammed US reality star Teresa Giudice, calling her an “idiot” and a “monster”, after she allegedly “attacked” him in a live interview this week.
“She was easily, hands down, the rudest person I’ve ever interviewed,” the radio host, 69, said on his Billy & Lisa in the Morning show after the interview ended.
Real Housewives of New Jersey star Giudice, 50, appeared on the program to promote an event she’s co-hosting, Page Six reports.
However, the interview took a turn once Costa asked Giudice about writing her book Turning The Tables following her 11-month stint in prison in 2015 for fraud.
“Teresa, we know you spent some time in prison, but you came out of prison and wrote a book – a bestseller – about your time in prison, and did it focus a lot on the food in prison?” Costa asked her.
Giudice then told the radio host she really didn’t “want to talk about that”.
“I don’t know if you know this, but I’m a four-time New York Times best-selling author,” the reality star snapped back, before Costa assured her that he did know that.
Giudice has co-authored three cookbooks and written two memoirs including Turning The Tables.
Costa then tried to move on from the confrontation and asked about the event she was promoting, but Giudice wasn’t ready to let it go.
“[We’re going to] have a good time, and it’s all about being positive, right? And not negative? You should learn some of that,” the reality star bluntly told the radio host, to which Costa replied that he’d “work on that”.
One of the show’s other hosts, Justin Aguirre, then chimed in, saying that they weren’t being “negative,” since her book is “part of [her] bio” – which was given to them by the RHONJ star’s publicist.
“I have a podcast called Namaste B**ches – you should listen to it and learn how to be a little more namaste,” Giudice then said before her rep cut her off and encouraged the hosts to come to her client’s event.
After Giudice hung up following the short phone interview, the hosts wasted no time in sharing their thoughts.
“I did time in prison, too, and you said, ‘Yeah you did time in prison, but you got out, you wrote a successful book,’ which it was – it was a huge book,” Aguirre argued, while the other co-hosts agreed it was supposed to be a positive perspective.
Aguirre also claimed that they “stayed away” from all of the topics they were told not to ask about, including Giudice’s strained relationship with brother Joe Gorga, and the hate she’s received on social media for wearing Balenciaga amid the luxury brand’s recent controversy.
“I don’t even want a coffee with Teresa Giudice,” Costa said when asked if he was still planning on going to her event.
Giudice has yet to directly comment on the remarks the hosts made about her.
However, her publicist and lawyer James J. Leonard Jr. exclusively told Page Six, “I think Mr Costa needs to work on being a bit more namaste like Teresa is – he seemed like he was looking for a confrontation or to have his moment.
“I would recommend he listen to Teresa’s podcast, Namaste B**ches, so he can work on himself and learn how to properly treat guests on his show.”
Andy Cohen, for his part, addressed the controversy twice on his SiriusXM show, Andy Cohen Live, earlier this week after two viewers called in to talk about it.
The Real Housewives executive producer, 54, asked the first caller what the radio hosts asked her since “they had to say something to get her to be rude”.
The caller doubled down, stating that Giudice was “rude right off the bat,” and Cohen seemed shocked, responding, “That’s what’s happening in Boston this morning, I like it.”
Cohen asked for more details from the second caller and as soon as she mentioned that the hosts had asked about prison, it clicked for him.
“OK, well, there you go,” the Bravo head honcho said. “I knew it, so he started with the jail thing.”
This story originally appeared on Page Six and is republished here with permission