Trending:
- Teresa Giudice shared a motivational Instagram post as news broke that she and Luis Ruelas owe $3 million in tax liens.
- People were quick to criticize Teresa, commenting things like “3 million in unpaid taxes…” and “Oh the prosecutors are going to love this” on the post.
- Users also called the star out for not learning her “lesson” and putting herself “in the same situation,” referring to her previous stint in prison for mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud.
Teresa Giudice is catching some flak for showing off her makeup in a motivational post as she and her husband, Luis Ruelas, make headlines for being several million dollars in tax debt.
On Monday, March 24, the Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 52, shared a “#MondayMotivation” Instagram post complete with an inspirational message and a pair of new photos showcasing an elaborate makeup look.
The Bravo star smiled in the photos and showed off her glam, which she paired with an ironic T-shirt that reads: “I speak fluent French. Hermes. Chanel. Dior. Saint Laurent.”
“New week, fresh goals, unstoppable energy!” she wrote in the caption. “Let’s make this Monday the start of something amazing. 
#MondayMotivation #NewWeekNewGoals.”
Teresa’s new post coincided with news that she and Ruelas, whom she married in 2022, owe a combined total of $3 million in tax liens — the RHONJ star owes $303,889.20 and Ruelas owes nearly $2.6 million, according to records obtained by PEOPLE.
The reality star has not publicly acknowledged or addressed the news, nor has Ruelas — and people noticed, with several voicing their criticisms in the comments of her Monday post.
“You should get a shirt that says, ‘Liens & Taxes’. I think that’s more appropriate,” one person wrote. A different user also referenced her shirt, joking that the star is “about to be fluent in federal tax evasion 
.”
“3 million in unpaid taxes…,” a different comment read, while another tapped into some sarcasm: “Oh the prosecutors are going to love this.”
Still, others pointed out that this isn’t Teresa’s first rodeo, as the RHONJ star previously served an 11-month prison sentence a decade ago for mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud.
“I just don’t understand why you would put yourself in the same situation,” one user wrote, while another added, “If ‘I didn’t learn my lesson the first time’ was a picture.”
News of the Teresa and Ruelas’ tax debt also comes three months after the latter was issued another lien for $163,523.94 in December 2024. (The New Jersey Courts website shows that this is still an open case.)
As for the reality star’s time behind bars in 2015, she has since addressed her incarceration several times, claiming that the courts wanted to “make an example” out of her.
“I know in my heart I was not supposed to go there,” she said on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live in 2022. “I know I only went because I’m in the public eye.”
“Listen, I’ll shout it out to the world,” she continued at the time. “I signed two contracts that [ex-husband Joe Giudice] was flipping [for] two homes he was buying. That’s all I did. I knew nothing about what he was doing. I mean, I have nothing to hide. Like, I did my time already, you know?”
Joe also spent time behind bars for the same crimes, completing his 41-month sentence in 2019 and subsequently separating from Teresa after 20 years of marriage. He later moved to Italy following a deportation battle.
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Teresa and Ruelas later met while the reality star was vacationing on the Jersey Shore in 2020, and they got engaged in 2021.
Their relationship has caused controversy among the RHONJ cast and viewers for years. After allegations that Ruelas assaulted his ex-fiancée surfaced, Teresa claimed that people “want to sabotage us.” And, despite rumblings of shakiness in their relationship in the following years, Teresa has repeatedly denied the rumors about her and her “soulmate.”
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