Katie Ginella’s husband has shared his opinion on the drama between his wife and Gretchen Rossi, and he didn’t hold back. Matt Ginella said that shortly after the Real Housewives of Orange County’s explosive New Orleans dinner, Rossi’s partner, Slade Smiley, contacted him. According to Matt, Smiley wanted Ginella to say Rossi never accused Tamra Judge of drugging her at a dinner party. Matt believes Rossi and Smiley embellished the story because of their dislike of Judge, and panicked when the word got out.

Katie Ginella’s husband said Gretchen Rossi and Slade Smiley wanted him to turn on Tamra Judge

At a cast dinner in New Orleans, Judge confronted Rossi after hearing that Ginella talked to a journalist about rumors that Judge roofied Rossi at a season 4 dinner party. While Ginella denied this, she later said Rossi told her a doctor found drugs in her system after the party. After the dinner, Matt received a “911 text” from Smiley.

“These are his exact words: ‘Katie might have just sealed her own fate … She told Kiki Monique what we told you guys the night of Maestro’s, and now it’s getting back out to the group. This is really bad. You need to call Katie, and you essentially need to have her hold the line and say it wasn’t said,’” Matt said on the Don’t Let It Stu podcast.

Smiley reportedly told Matt that he had RHOC producer Alex Baskin on the other line. He said Baskin was not happy about the rumors that Judge roofied Rossi.

“[Slade] was in like, full backpedal, and I’m like, again, this guy started [RHOC]. I don’t know what his connections … I don’t know what his relationships are with top production or whatever,” he said, adding, “I don’t know if he’s on with Alex Baskin.”

Matt said that Rossi and Smiley had told them the roofie story at a dinner party. He believed this was all part of an “anti-Tamra” campaign.

“This story was told to us,” he said, adding, “We didn’t ask for it. We’re sitting there going, ‘Wow, that’s crazy. That’s some crazy s***.’”

Matt believes that when his wife spoke to a journalist, Smiley and Rossi realized their plan had gone off the rails.

“The panic button was hit, and Slade was like, ‘Oh s***, that whole little embellishment I was doing for whatever reason…’”

He also believes the cast members have been unfairly targeting his wife

In general, Matt is not happy with the way the other Housewives have treated his wife this season. Emily Simpson confronted Ginella about the rumors with a lie detector test, which Matt found insulting.

“For this mall cop of a lawyer to hire a lie detector when she knows it’s not admissible in court, the whole scene turns on a dime,” he said. “It’s all a light, happy, ‘Oh, that’s not true.’ ‘Okay, that’s fine.’ But here comes Katie. Goes last. Misses all of them. ‘No one believes you.’ ‘You’re a horrible person.’”

He said all the women have been bullying Ginella to have a storyline.

“This has been a nonstop, relentless projection and assault and bullying of grown women to a grown woman,” he said. “[Shannon Beador]’s storyline? Katie. Jenn’s storyline? Katie. Gretchen’s storyline? Katie. [Gina Kirschenheiter] and Emily’s storyline? Katie.”

Rossi has also gone on the record to clear up the comments she made to Ginella. 

“When Tamra tells me that story, I’m obviously blindsided … my brain starts going back, because you’ve gotta remember, this is months and months prior,” Gretchen explained on the Juicy Scoop podcast. “Back in September or October is when we went to dinner, me and Katie and [Jennifer Pedranti], [Ryan Boyajian], and [Matt Ginella].”

She insisted that while she said she drank too much at the party, she never told Ginella that Judge roofied her.

“I explained to [Katie] what naked wasted was: ‘She tried to get me drunk,’ and I was like, ‘I was so sick. I probably should’ve gone to the hospital the next day.’”

Rossi said she felt shocked and blindsided when she heard Ginella talked to a reporter. She added that if she suspected Judge drugged her, she would have been the first person to talk about it.