RHONJ's Margaret Josephs and Siggy Flicker Clash in Heated Milan Battle
Is Margaret Josephs anti-Semitic? Her Real Housewives of New Jersey rival Siggy Flicker sure thinks so.
On Wednesday’s Real Housewives of New Jersey, the 50-year-old “powerhouse in pigtails” was confronted about a controversial comment she made to Flicker regarding Adolph Hitler — a comment that had Flicker, the only Jewish New Jersey Housewife, accusing Josephs of being prejudice towards Jews.
It all started on a previous episode of the hit Bravo show, when Josephs, Teresa Giudice, Melissa Gorga and Danielle Staub were confronting Flicker and Dolores Catania about their decision to walk in the POSCHE fashion show despite the boutique owner allegedly spreading rumors about Giudice’s marriage.
Responding to Flicker’s argument that she wasn’t judging the owner for her actions since she hadn’t treated Flicker poorly in the past, Josephs looked at her and asked, “But Siggy, Hitler would have not killed me. Does that make him a good person?”
Josephs’ words deeply hurt Flicker.
“The first time Margaret referenced Hitler, I was in such a shock I couldn’t speak,” Flicker confessed to audiences on Wednesday’s episode, where the whole cast headed to Milan, Italy on vacation. “So it’s hard to enjoy Italy because the more I think about it, I get more hurt and more angry and I hit my breaking point.”
Adding to Flicker’s hurt was the fact that her father, Dr. Mordecai Paldiel, is Holocaust survivor
“Margaret will always go below the belt to hurt me. The fact that she would say Hilter’s name when she knows I’m a super Jew? My father’s a Holocaust survivor. What kind of person has Hitler on their mind? … I want to call Margaret out about how insensitive it was to reference Hilter when we were talking about a fashion show!”
Flicker got her chance to do just that at dinner, where Josephs and the cast once again questioned her and Catania’s decision to support the fashion show.
“In our lives, there are going to be people who don’t like me and vice versa,” Flicker said. “I’m going to use Margaret as an example. Just recently, for us to be in an argument and all of a sudden for her to use Hitler as a comparison — it’s inappropriate. Can you guys admit it?”
“Unless we’re discussing the Holocaust, Hitler’s name should not come up,” Flicker continued. “I am the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. It’s inappropriate!”
Defending herself, Josephs explained she was using “an analogy” and wasn’t comparing Flicker to Hitler. “I said, ‘Hitler would have been good to me, does that make him a good person?’ ” she recounted. “Kim D’s only goal in life is to destroy Teresa and Melissa. She’s f——- evil. And how are you supposed to make analogies about evil people if you can’t use the evil peoples names!”
She then explained that her children are Jewish, though the point was moot in Flicker’s book. “Honey, I know many people who married Jews who can’t stand Jews,” Flicker said. “You’re anti-Semitic!”
Hearing the term used set Josephs off. “How dare you say I can’t stand Jews!” Josephs barked. “To call me anti-Semitic, that’s a f—ing bulls— move… Do you think this is acceptable?”
But Flicker did. “I’m not apologizing,” she told Giudice and Gorga as they left the restaurant (thanks to some glass-throwing by Staub). “You guys got to stick up for me with the Hitler thing!”
It appears Flicker was on an island all her own — with Giudice and even Catania later admitting they didn’t think Josephs was anti-Semitic.
“I do not think you’re anti-Semitic, but I think you’re anti-Siggy,” Catania explained, as Josephs attempted to defend her “persuasive” comment. “This is what started the fight in the first place. You decided to make a point about something you don’t really know the dynamics of. [It was] not necessary [and] in poor taste. I might have said the same thing to you if I was Siggy. Probably worse, in fact.”
Josephs didn’t agree. “If she would have just said, ‘Margaret, I feel like you said that purposely to hurt me,’ I would have said, ‘I would have never said that purposely to hurt you,'” she said.
“[Siggy] just said that to be f—— vicious. She feels insecure, she has to call people names and take pot-shots. I’m f—— done with her. She’s a nut bar,” Josephs exclaimed. “I don’t think there’s anything more viral than assassinating someone’s character. This has gone from a spat to an all out war.”
The Real Housewives of New Jersey airs Wednesdays (9 p.m. ET) on Bravo.
