So, Jersey Shore: Family Vacation is happening, and it"s just as insane as the trailers made it look. The ratings are doing well, and they"ve already been renewed for another season.
But Sammi Sweetheart didn"t return to the show"s revival series.
Finally, that conspicuous absence has been fully explained by the cast, as you can see in the video below.
The clip below begins with Ronnie asserting that the other women of Jersey Shore didn"t really know Sammi that well when he was dating her.
"When me and her dated, she never talked to you."
Deena disagrees, saying: "She talked to me."
"Not really," Ronnie argues. "Not really. Not the way she talks to you now. She talks to you after we broke up."
Which prompts Deena to spill everything that"s going on.
It was Ronnie, she says, that really scared Sammi away from participating in this revival.
"Ron," Deena says. "Needs to stop talking about Sam and, like, move the f–k on."
And she continues.
"Sam told me that he used to call her on blocked numbers and used to, like, be really weird."
That is alarming behavior.
"She was afraid that she was going to get into the house and he would get drunk and spiral."
Sammi allegedly had a very specific concern about an intoxicated Ronnie might do.
"And try to get back with her or something."
This matches what Snooki told Larry King.
"Sam decided not to do it," she told him in a recent interview.
At first, she tried to keep things vague.
"Basically," Snooki says of Sammi. "She was over the whole reality scene."
But she quickly becomes more specific.
"She didn"t want to be in a toxic relationship with Ron anymore. Which we totally get."
When Sammi spoke for herself on social media, she used much vaguer terms to describe what she was avoiding.
"I am currently extremely happy in every aspect of my life and want to avoid potentially toxic situations."
Yeah, an ex who can"t seem to get the message and will be drinking … that sounds pretty toxic.
"I"ve just decided to live my life for me these days."
At the time, this could have had a number of meanings.
But in light of what we"ve heard, it seems clear that she was referring to wanting to avoid Ronnie.
This is … alarming. Not surprising — we all saw what Ronnie was like with Sammi on camera.
But if a woman is afraid to return to a reality series because of a man … should she be the one who doesn"t make it on camera?
Someone doesn"t have to fear for their physical safety for the other person to be the wrongdoer, right?
We"d hoped for more from Ronnie Ortiz-Magro.
Earlier this month, Ronnie and his girlfriend welcomed their baby girl.
But if that relationship wasn"t enough to assure Sammi that he"d leave her alone, we absolutely do not blame her.
If you look at the way that he speaks so defensively in this video, you can"t help but wonder if Sammi was right to avoid him.
