Thursday night’s season finale of Families of the Mafia did not set well with two of the show’s stars…and they took to Twitter on Friday to air their grievances and call out the show’s producers!
Lisa Augustine— whose daughter, Dennie, contacted her biological father via phone during an emotional scene— came out swinging at the way the scene was edited, claiming that the show’s producers “had a secret agenda” and lied to her and Dennie about how the scene was going to be presented to viewers.
“Wish you would have showed more of what was really said in this scene too,” Lisa tweeted after the episode aired. “Unfortunate that all the producers had a secret agenda and lied to me and my daughter.
“Hopefully at least one of them will reach out to us. So far I only hear crickets.”
Wish you would have showed more of what was really said in this scene too. Unfortunate that all the producers had a secret agenda and lied to me and my daughter. Hopefully at least one of them will reach out to us. So far I only hear crickets. ???
— LisaAugustineMTV (@LAugustinemtv) May 8, 2020
During the finale, Dennie spoke to her missing-in-action father, who left her family when she was seven years old. It was hardly a happy reunion, though, with Dennie’s father speaking aggressively to his daughter and leaving her in tears as she realized he still may not want her in his life.
According to Lisa and Dennie, the phone call scene was heavily edited, with much of it being allegedly cut out. She implored the network to play the unedited phone call so fans could hear what was really said by Dennie’s father.
“Play the REAL call from Dennie to her sperm donor in its entirety like you said you were going to. Not the edited version,” Lisa wrote, adding, “What [a] joke. I never said an Ill word to my kids about that man. You have [given] him that platform !! YOU DIDNT PLAY THE ENTIRE CALL!! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED.
“And they only aired the good part of the call!” Lisa told a fan. “The rest was vile. Her screaming reaction was in response to what he was really saying. My poor daughter.”
Lisa even suggested that the show’s producers and editors were trying to make Dennie’s father look like a good guy, something, according to Lisa, he is not.
“[I took out a] restraining order bc he was violent and cursed and hit me in front of the children and ripped our Christmas decorations off my house. Really? Let’s go get the court docs! I’M DONE. This wonderful dad’ blocked his kids on social media for YEARS,” she tweeted.
Lisa admitted that the show’s producers did apologize, but she still seemed to indicate that her family would not participate in another season of ‘Families of the Mafia,’ should MTV greenlight one.
“I stayed quiet, but to see my child hurt like that..” Lisa wrote. “She still has nightmares about what was said to her on that call by her father. The producers apologized bc they couldn’t believe how he hurt her and didn’t expect it. Then they don’t even air it so pp see the truth.
“These are ALL lies and @MTV gave him that platform behind our backs!” Lisa added. “Now the truth will come out , but not in a season 2 for us.”
These are ALL lies and @MTV gave him that platform behind our backs!!!! Now the truth will come out , but not in a season 2 for us.
— LisaAugustineMTV (@LAugustinemtv) May 8, 2020
Dennie had quite a lot to say about the scene as well. She retweeted the reaction of one fan who seemed to agree with Lisa that the network/producers helped Dennie’s father get on the show. (The fan also called out the Augustines’ co-star Karen Gravano, who is a producer for ‘Families of the Mafia.’
“I knew @MTV was being shady towards @dennieaugustine and her mom,” the fan wrote. “She hasn’t seen her dad in years and MTV plays their part by getting him on the show and lets him talk s**t about her mom? Insanity. Isn’t Karen a producer on the show? How did this even happen?”
Dennie made it clear on Twitter that she was done trying to reunite with her biological father.
“This man will put the blame on everyone because it’s so hard to accept his kids really were better off without him… I can say i have finally learned…not everything that’s broken is worth fixing.”
‘Families of the Mafia’ was a six-episode series featuring most of the same people who appeared on MTV’s short-lived show Made in Staten Island last year. MTV has not announced whether or not it will pick ‘Families of the Mafia’ up for another season.
Last month, MTV reportedly received a cease-and-desist letter from the company that owns the rights to Mob Wives, stating that the premise of ‘Families of the Mafia’ is too close to that of ‘Mob Wives’ and infringes on that show’s copyrights. Both shows featured Karen Gravano, who has stated in past interviews that the shows are very different, due to ‘Families of the Mafia’ focusing on the entire family rather than just the wives.
RELATED STORY: ‘Mob Wives’ Owner Reportedly Sent MTV a Cease-and-Desist Letter Claiming ‘Families of the Mafia’ Infringes on ‘Mob Wives’ Copyright
(Photos: MTV, Twitter, Instagram)
12 Responses
Everyone should be careful whom they have children with. Men & Weman tend to walkout on kids,Extremely sad. CHILDREN having babies..On top of having family issues..Thats got to be rough…I feel sorry for the lil ones,heart breaks for them all. Have to admit I love the show!!
I find these shows amusing on one level but oh so irritating on another! First of all I can’t stand when all these Staten Island reality show participants claim that “everyone on this island knows each other”. Um, no we do not. I’ve never heard of “the o’tooles”. Who the heck are they? Karen’s daughter isn’t even from here. Wasn’t born here, didn’t grow up here! Karen, please stop trying to make your daughter a thing. She’s not the next kardashian. You are not kris Jenner. And why would you want that for her anyway?
They really really make this Island look terrible. YES, there are kids like these kids here but they represent an infinitesimal minority of Staten islands population. YES there are women like this on Staten Island but they are also in small numbers and will be gone with their generation. They are a dying breed.
I don’t blame the world for thinking we are all a bunch of meatballs. This is how we’ve been portrayed on every reality show. It sickens me when I see these little boys acting like they’re hard. They’re not. They’re only tough when they’re surrounded by their boys. Most of these kids are middle to upper class spoiled brats who grew up with EVERYTHING! I feel bad for whatever woman ends up marrying them because their mothers ADORE them, constantly telling them how handsome they are, while running their hands through the boys hair. Fine, every mom thinks their son is handsome, but Staten Island moms take it to a whole-nutha-level! Moms, your sons are not that handsome, they’re definitely not the brightest bulbs either! They barely hold down jobs and getting arrested seems to be a hobby. So guess what, your boys are NOT a catch for any girl. They’ll just end up being a heart-breaking burden to them.
Staten Island can be a really nice place for families (no not mafia families, I mean REAL families). Yes there are some bad neighborhoods (like any place else). Most of Staten Island is full of beautiful homes populated by people with good jobs who work hard. Most Staten islanders take immaculate care of their homes, we take pride in our careers and families, like anyone else. This Island is NOT filled with people like this. They are, thankfully, the minority here. Italians (me being one of them) have always been represented poorly. We’re used to Hollywood’s depiction of Italians. But Staten Island Italians have been depicted almost like cartoon characters. You have to just laugh at it.
PS-hey C.P., now that you’re in a barber shop, get a freakin’ haircut! It looks like you have a bran muffin hat on! Gross. Not a good look (although I’m sure your mother would tell u otherwise while running her fingers through your muffintop)
I wish they would stop pushing mafia themes shows on us.. The mafia was dead and buried 20 years ago.. This show.. The made in Miami show with the mother of coke (I forget the name) This spinoff show with the children of the mafia… None of them take off or landed because they’re inauthentic. That’s why and had 6 episodes because they couldn’t find anything interesting to make a 7th episode.. They have 11 minutes commercial breaks in between just try to stretch it into a show. Hang it up. Stop trying to make your daughter happen. It’s not happening. Sorry about the O’toole’s father passing. But it’s a rap.
If anyone cares. I know the complete and true story of what took place back then, on the phone calls recently and many parts along the way.
I was Ron’s roommate after he and Lisa split initially for 2+ years, and she has been spinning lies for almost two decades. I am not saying he is completely in the right, let’s be clear. But mtv did a great job of continuing the same BS she has been telling the kids for 15+ years, until they interviewed him and had reason to question much of it.
Q: What do you call an Italian hooker?
A: A pastatute
Don’t forget to tip your waitress
stay lit
Q: What do you call an Italian hooker?
A: A pastatute.
Don’t forget to tip your waitress
stay lit
Do people actually watch this show?
Be careful who you make babies with…
Sorry! Wish I could change my vote after accidentally downvoting with my fat finger on my small screen!
Is MTV’s main goal only to show negative stereotypes of Italians and southern people? Seriously, not all southerners are backwards rednecks like that Florida\Bama/whatever show depicts and we don’t all enjoy ‘muddin.’ Not all Italians look like they bathe in cheeto dust, nor are all of them connected to the damn mob. Stereotypes and abusers. That’s all this crap fest of a network plays anymore. I don’t even remember the last time that I saw a music video played on the Music Television network. Yep, kids, that’s what it used to stand for. I have a teenager that straight-up googled 80s/90s MTV because she just couldn’t believe her dad when he told her that when we were kids it was nothing but music.
I really liked Dennie and her mom! I felt horrible about how that phone call went and wondered how edited it was. Karen is the executive producer of the show. Karen’s daughter, Karina is supposed to be one of Dennie’s best friends so that sucks that this happened. Dennie seems like a sweetheart, tries to stay positive, funny, applied herself, I think was the only one out of all of the cast adults included that graduated college. Her sperm donor lost out.
I agree 100%. Her donor lost out on knowing a young lady who (despite laying it on thick for the cameras) is probably a really nice, funny and definitely smart! It is HIS loss. Sad