Friday, September 27, 2013

Mob Wives: Season 4 Cast Changes?

Rumor has it that there will be big cast changes on season four of Mob Wives. I have tried to get to the bottom of it, but I can only tell you what I have learned in my spare time from reading Twitter, which is not official. I have been busy the past six months, too busy to keep up with the drama. However, I have a couple of followers who alert me when they see anything of significant interest. About two months or so ago, Carla was having, what I like to call, a “tweeting tantrum” and was directing her rants at Executive Producer, Jennifer Graziano. She went on and on about how Jenn let some of the original mob wives go and replaced them with mob wives from Philadelphia, where some of the filming has been taking place. What did Carla have to say? Here, read the tweets for yourself:










I thought her tweets might make for a good blog one day, so I saved them. I tried to get Mob Mistress to write it up. I knew she would do a better job of it than I could, but she too was very busy with “real life” and never had the time. Last night my brain acted up and wanted me to get what I know out there. Let me sum up the Carla rants for you. Carla said that three mob wives were let go because of money. I guess they wanted more money and VH1 or Just Jenn Productions wasn’t willing to pay them more, but allegedly did pay the others more. She accused Jenn of many things including being a Puppet Master, a backstabber, “the snake who screwed her own friends,” cheap, etc. She said the show should now be called “Philly Wives” and that Love was “played by the puppet master.” All of this makes for a lot of questions, questions I patiently tried to get answers to before writing this blog.  However, contractual issues may be involved as to why no one else is really “spilling the beans.”

In case you haven’t already heard, the other two Mob Wives allegedly being let go are Karen Gravano and Ramona Rizzo. If this is news to you, please take a minute to get over the shock. It’s hard to believe that two “real” major Mob Wives are being let go from a show that is about Mob Wives. Karen’s departure was especially surprising to me because her father, Sammy Gravano, was the Underboss of the Gambino crime family and the one who brought down the “Teflon Don,” John Gotti. As far as I am concerned, he is the most notorious living mobster of our time. Having Karen on the show really kicked off season one of Mob Wives. No one could dispute her “bloodline” and her father’s reputation. The Gravano name was the one name everyone knew. Then we have Ramona, whose grandfather, “Lefty Guns” Ruggiero was so important in the mob that they made a movie in 1997, called “Donnie Brasco,“ with Al Pacino playing the role of Ramona‘s grandfather. I don’t know how either of these two Mob Wives can be “replaced,” but I guess we will find out. From reading Twitter, I have gathered that neither one is happy with this turn of events, but they haven’t said much about it. I have been waiting for the truth to come out, and I still think it will, it’s just a matter of time. I also know that Karen and Ramona have other projects they are working on and I hope they will keep us up to date. As for Carla, well everyone knows how I feel about her, and I think she basically hung herself with her own soap on a rope last season.

Who will be the new cast members? I can give you one name that has been popping up on Twitter in recent weeks, Alicia DiMichele, from Philly.  I have written a couple of blogs on her in the past. You can Google her name and read about her background online. I am not sure who else from Philly might be joining the cast, but Alicia and Renee have become friendly and I think it’s a safe bet she has joined the cast.

How they will tie the leftover New York mob wives with the Philly mob wives is anyone’s guess. I have no idea. I don’t know if there is any history between these women. I don’t know if they had a problem getting a full Philly cast for another spin off and decided to merge the two cities. Who knows? We can’t even get answers to simple questions. Questions like: Why were Karen and Ramona let go? Who is officially joining the cast? Why is this all being kept a secret from fans who supported the show from day one with their loyalty? Why aren’t the ladies being allowed to tell us what happened? Was Love really set up, as Carla, of all people, claims? Was this all about money or is there more to these changes?

And, one last and maybe most important question, how has all this affected the lifelong relationships of the women? It seems to me that these business decisions have affected their friendships. Jenn, Karen and Ramona have been friends since they were kids, but from what I read on Twitter, strictly between the lines, things are not what they used to be. I think that it would be a shame if business has come between them and caused a rift at this time of their lives. But, then again, how could it not?

I’d love to know your thoughts. Will you still be as interested in Mob Wives without Karen and Ramona? Will you watch the show? I will have to watch it. The changes are huge and I’m sure I am going to have a lot to say, one way or the other. After all, two of my favorite Mob Wives were let go and I am starting off season four as an unhappy viewer. Season four of Mob Wives is set to premiere in December so stay tuned.

Special shout out to @drizz24!

One parting gift for Carla from Mob Mistress, as requested:


Picture Credit: Carla's Twitter Account

18 comments:

Lady EL said...

What!? I too have been busy and haven't kept up with the drama but WTH! Karen AND Ramona gone.. well I must say even though I love Rene, the show wouldn't be the same without those two. It would appear that Mobwives have "jumped the shark" with this one. As for Carla, all I have to say is Buh-Bye. And I was so looking forward to the new season.. so sad.

Anonymous said...

One thing is for sure, Mobwives isn't gonna be tha same. Although, I love to watch Karen and Ramona, it would be interesting to see who the new Mobwives are. New season, New drama.

Anonymous said...

I saw somewhere where Ramona made a remark but Carla is the only one to really speak out about this. Renee mentioned having unconditional love for Karen in one of her tweets. But who can top Gravano? I assume it was Karen's choice to walk away...something in the sauce ain't right for sure.

I will watch out of curiosity but I just hope the Philly wives aren't anything like half the Chicago wives.

Drizz24 said...

Hey thanks for the shout out Chiara! Great blog! I could careless about Carla she really brought nothing to the table. But Ramona and Karen still have so much story line to share. I cannot even imagine what these " Philly" girls can bring. I mean does Drita and Big Ang even know these ladies! To be honest I will watch the new season in the beginning if Jenn doesn't pull this group together I'm jumping ship too. I know the other day I had tweeted to you it's about money. What I really mean is it's all about the money for Carla. She can tweet that she was lied to blah blah blah. But with how two face Carla is if Jenn said I'll give you the paycheck you want Carla would have been OK where do I sign! I don't think Karen and Ramona are all about the money. But if there were lies being spread about them then yes I can see them leaving for that. I tweeted Jenn G the other day and asked her when will you tell us what really happened? And she actually responded to me " When the time is right"! so we shall see.

Chiara Soprano said...

I think the time is right when things are being leaked, just for the sake of clarity and the truth. Why keep fans in the dark and let them draw their own conclusions? Thanks for giving me a heads up on what I was missing during this busy time, Drizz.

Angela said...

It wouldn't make much sense to have Karen leave since the new girl Alicia DiMichele Garafola and Karen have some serious personal drama to deal with to deal with. Thier families are serious issues. I would like to see how that is resolved if it is resolved.

Chiara Soprano said...

Angela I came across that bit of history and I agree with you. Alicia does have a connection to Karen that would have been great to see on the show. I don't get what is going on, but I'll be sure to watch and share my thoughts.

Angela said...

Also Since Ramona is her defense attorney I would love to see how that turns out. According to Carla all three of them are leaving and that would not be good for ratings since they have that family history. I am just saying. Unless Karen does not want to face her.

Anonymous said...

I am shocked and sad (and PISSED) that Karen isn't going to be on anymore. I can do without Carla and Ramona, but Karen??!?!? Wth? So sad to see her go. Never liked Ramona......and started to dislike Carla more and more. But, again, Karen? She and Drita are/were my faves!! Boo!!!

Anonymous said...

The question of how they are going to tie Alicia into the cast is that Renee has known Alicia's husband for many years.. He is originally from Brooklyn. He and Renee go back a long time.

Anonymous said...

Where does it say that they have to be NY? It is simply called "Mob Wives". Not "Mob Wives NY". They are not like the Real Housewives franchise where each city is a different show. I see nothing wrong with including Philly wives. As long as they truly are mob affiliated.

Chiara Soprano said...

It doesn't say they all have to be from NY, but the plan was to have Mob Wives from different cities including Chicago, Miami, Philly and other cities. Jennifer is the one who said she was looking into these other cities and I believe it was intended to be like the Real Housewives in that respect.

MiamiGirl said...

I have been a Mobwives fan since day one and I am not sure how the show is going to go with the original cast members gone, especially Karen. I am going to miss all three of them (even the ones I don't like). Not sure I can keep watching without Karen and Carla.

Tedesca said...

In a recent interview Ramona said basically the same things than Carla, which means the allegations seem to be true - most of the fighting between the Mobwives was the result of someone from the crew telling them lies: “I don’t feel I was forced, I felt like I was lied to behind the scenes. I was told a lot of lies, and then when me and the girls got together, it wasn’t true.”
Asked to clarify if she believed the lies were told to create tension with the cast member, Ramona replied, “Yeah, and that’s one of the issues when we got together, that’s what we discovered.” http://4umf.com/trina-talks-new-music-females-hip-hop-french-montana/#.UlYRzha-v8u

Anonymous said...

It does matter. Because there are different mobs throughout the country. Hello! Mob Wives CHICAGO. This was supposed to be Mob Wives New York.

Anonymous said...

To answer your question: Love was set-up just like "CARLA CLAIM!"

RRbradydallas said...

For a show who's consistent theme is "loyalty," replacing three cast members - especially Karen (the big star of season1) is a MW slap in the face. I love Drita, Big Ang and Renee but, what I love most is the power of the cast as a whole. I'm sure the new girls will be entertaining but I suspect the show now becomes just another Hollywood forced fabrication. I say shame on you Jenn for forgetting what the people on the other side of the TV set want -that's a real MW slap in the face to the fans!

Anonymous said...

I only watch the show for Drita. I think personally Karen was a whiny ass bitch who was forever bringing up her dad cooperating. And her book.. umm sucked! I took it back and got my money back. The show made it seem way better tan it was. And Romona was just a little puppet in Karen's ear making the whole situation between her and Drita more than it needed it be. Glad they are gone... plus Carla really acted like she was above the lifestyle the whole show.