Jennifer Aydin Fires Back at Andy Cohen's Remarks on Jersey Mike's Drama, Teases Upcoming Role on 'RHONJ' - lulu

Jennifer Aydin is weighing in on Andy Cohen calling her Jersey Mike’s drama a “self-inflicted wound.”

“I did not see it. Somebody told me about it. I did not hear that,” the Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 47, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, January 8. “But you know what? I would say that’s accurate.”

Aydin made headlines earlier this month for her unexpected feud with multiple Jersey Mike’s employees. The Bravo personality posted a video on her social media page claiming she waited for “what felt like forever” for service from the sandwich shop. An employee who was there subsequently fired back at Aydin via TikTok.

Cohen, 56, later took to his radio show to call the moment an “a self-inflicted wound.”

“She melted down. And you know what, before you hit send on the post, take a beat and say, ‘How is this gonna land?’” Cohen said during the Monday, January 6, episode of his SiriusXM show Radio Andy. “How are you going to cause so much trouble for yourself? … You’re at the airport, you’re getting a sandwich. … It’s just, how is this gonna land?”

Upon further reflection, Aydin acknowledged she should not have posted the video of her interaction with several fast food workers.

“I have to realize that me posting it is, in fact, a self-inflicted wound. I did not think it was going to go down that way,” she explained on Wednesday. “I thought that people would see the video and be like, ‘How rude was this guy to you?’ And he doesn’t even know you, so it’s fine. It’s all good. Lesson learned.”

While sitting down with Us, Aydin gave us her recollection of what happened. According to the reality star, the incident happened while traveling with husband Bill Aydin, their five kids and additional family members over the holidays.

“[Bill] took all the kids, went to another stand that had a table, ordered food. It was about 5:30 in the morning,” Jennifer said. “Jersey Mike’s did not open until 5:30, and my cousin and I got on the line pretty much around 5:45 a.m. and there were not that many people on the line. Again, it was a little slow-moving, but we weren’t going to complain.”

When Jennifer did place her order, Bill was not with her. When he later joined her, Bill shared that one of their kids ended up wanting a sandwich and Jennifer tried to add the item after already placing her order. The employee allegedly told Jennifer if she wanted another sandwich she would have to get in line again or ask the man who was next in line if it was OK if she went to the counter to order another item.

“In the video, they were still working on my sandwich. It’s not like I had paid. I didn’t check out,” she claimed. “So for them to tell me to wait to the end of the line or that I had to ask this guy’s permission — that just really started an altercation. They shouldn’t have done that and that’s just customer service. I’m realizing now that I can’t say, ‘I’m a celebrity.’ People are very angry. … I will no longer say I’m a celebrity since people are so angry about it. But, obviously, this wouldn’t have gone so viral as it did if I wasn’t a public figure.”

After Jennifer’s social media blow-up went viral, the fallout included her being dropped from an upcoming reality stars cruise. In addition to the firing, the RHONJ cast’s future remains up in the air after the show was put on pause following season 14. While the show’s direction is in limbo, Jennifer has faith that everything will work out and says she has “respect” no matter what Bravo decides.

“I feel like by the time they’ve regrouped to even consider who they’re going to recast or if they’re going to recast, this will be such water under the bridge. So I don’t really think that’s a thing,” she told Us. “Plus, by the time they reconfigure who’s going to be on the staff, I don’t know where I’m going to be at that point in my life. I am a big believer in that God protects me and my blessings are in the proof of my lifestyle in the good that I do. I always constantly pay it forward.”

With reporting by Christina Garibaldi