Ronnie Says ‘Jersey Shore’ Episode ‘Caught a Rough Patch’ With Jen

Not as bad as it seems? According to Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, everything between him and his on-off girlfriend Jen Harley is fine after their volatile arguments aired on the Thursday, August 30, episode of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation.  

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“For the record I love My family, my daughter & the mother of my child. The way I felt during that moment isn’t [how] I feel 3 months later,” the 32-year-old reality TV personality wrote alongside a photo of himself, Harley and their 4-month-old daughter, Ariana, on his Instagram Story on Thursday. “Unfortunately, this season caught a rough patch in bother of our lives, we stuck together & have got thru it. Ariana grows up in a happy home, regardless of what is shown & edited for TV. It a combination of bad timing, a lot of moving parts, misinformed information. she has two amazing parents who loved her. Enjoy your #Jerzday.”

Us Weekly broke the news in June that Ortiz-Magro and Harley, 33, got into a physical argument during the taping of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation season 2 in Las Vegas. During the episode, fans saw the MTV star break down into tears over his fears of losing his daughter if he split with Harley, who allegedly threatened to take Ariana away.

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Ortiz-Magro later left to see a lawyer to explore his custody options. After he returned, Harley arrived at the Vegas hotel yelling at him for calling her a “slut” and “whore.” Security stepped in after Harley spit on Ortiz-Magro. Us confirmed at the time that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department were called about the incident.

Executive producer SallyAnn Salsano spoke exclusively to Us about filming — and having to step in during — the explosive fight.

“I get it, I’m a producer. They are people that are on my TV show. The truth of the matter is that we have relationships with these guys. We’ve known them for so long. It wasn’t a typical episode,” she explained. “It wasn’t a typical thing that we normally deal with. This is someone you love going through something completely unexpected, out of the ordinary, and you know, we all look to each other for guidance. … And this was a time where, I think, Ronnie needed to lean on us. I think honestly, as a human, I don’t know if there was another way to do it. As a producer, there’s always other ways to do it. But as a person who genuinely cares about these people and loves this cast, there was not an option.”

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While Ortiz-Magro and Harley’s on-off relationship frequently plays out on social media, Salsano called their altercation on the show “unexpected.”

“We do give each other a certain amount of respect or privacy. We all go through things as we’re shooting but this was one of those things where it was just happening and we were there. We were in his hometown,” she told Us. “It just felt so unavoidable and it was unexpected. I think it was unexpected for Ron, I think it was unexpected for the cast, it was unexpected for the baby. This was literally, like, ‘We’re going to Vegas to meet the baby,’ and like hell, who doesn’t like Vegas? It kind of was a perfect fit for the show, like it made complete sense when we were making the plan.”

Jersey Shore: Family Vacation airs on MTV Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET.

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