Teresa Giudice got slammed on social media on Sunday, October 4, after she shared pics from her daughter Gabriella’s 16th birthday party that didn’t show guests wearing face masks or observing social distancing rules amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 48, shared a video and photos on Instagram from the bash at the Dream Downtown hotel in NYC, which featured balloons by the Balloon Boss and flowers from Treemendous Florists with a red and black theme.
“I’m so lucky to be your mom…Happy Sweet 16th Birthday beautiful!” the Bravo star captioned a video that showed Gabriella surrounded by more than a dozen friends and family members as they sang “Happy Birthday” to her beside a black cake from Palermo Bakery. “Happy Sweet 16 my beautiful Gabriella! You looked so absolutely beautiful last night celebrating & I’m in awe of you everyday. You are so smart, kind, funny & dedicated to school and soccer, I can’t wait to see the great things you do in the future!”
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The only person wearing a mask in the video was a server who handed a candle to Gabriella.
“Curious to see how many COVID cases will come from this since you obviously didn’t require masks or social distancing,” one follower commented on the post. While some fans defended Teresa, another commenter wrote, “I was just thinking that… I’m not that brave to have a party yet.” Another wrote, “How this whole family hasn’t gotten covid I’ll never know.”
New York State law requires everyone over the age of 2 who can medically tolerate a face covering to wear a face mask in public if unable to maintain at least 6 feet of distance from others and “strongly” recommends that people “wear a face covering as much as possible when in a shared indoor space outside your home,” even if you can maintain six feet of distance from others.
Teresa didn’t respond to the slams and later shared more photos of her beautiful daughter. The reality TV star shares three other children — Gia, 19, Milania, 15, and Audriana, 11 — with ex-husband Joe Guidice. The businessman, who was deported to his native Italy in 2019 after serving a prison sentence for fraud, shared his own posts paying tribute to Gabriella.
“You are breath taking!” he captioned a photo of her wearing a red dress at her party. “I want all of your greatest dreams to come true. You deserve the absolute best that life has to offer. you helped mommy and me with your sisters so much you truly are a dream come true. I love you so much . Happy birthday Gabriella.”
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