Controversy aside, one of the most appalling behaviors on MTV’s Jersey Shore was a teaser clip at the end of episode 1. The clip showed Jersey Shore star, Nicole Polizzi aka Snooki getting punched in the face by a man at a bar.
The man doing the punching has now been identified as Brad Ferro. Brad, a 24 year-old teacher at a New York City high school, was arrested for assault and disorderly conduct in August after hitting Snooki at the Beachcomber Bar & Grill, reports The New York Times. Because the school administrators were not notified, Brad continued to teach gym at North Queens Community High despite the offense.
Now, Brad has stopped teaching and has been placed into one of the Department of Education’s teacher reassignment centers, according to the New York Times. During the night of the incident, Seaside Heights Det. Steve Korman told the Post that the Bartender stopped pouring Brad a drink because he was intoxicated, so he took alcohol belonging to Snooki and her friends.
“That started a verbal altercation after which he struck her in the face,” Korman said. “She sustained an injury to the inside of her mouth due to the punch.”
The controversial show has been criticized by the Italian American community who believe it promotes negative stereotypes and use of the offensive words “Guido” and “Guidette.
MTV has also decided not to air the punch clip anymore in the upcoming episode 4. “What happened to “Snooki” was a crime and obviously extremely disturbing,” MTV said in a statement Friday. “After hearing from our viewers, further consulting with experts on the issue of violence, and seeing how the video footage has been taken out of context to not show the severity of this act or the resulting consequences, MTV has decided not to air “Snooki” being physically punched in next week’s episode.”
MTV said the episode will still make clear what happened that night and plans to air a message at the end of the show listing available resources for those in abusive relationships.
Italian actress Alyssa Milano also recently criticized the show. She told UsWeekly, “My husband actually showed me the trailer on YouTube last night, and I got upset,” she said. “It upset me. I was like, ‘Turn that off!’ So no, I don’t think I’ll be watching that!'”
UPDATE – The Punch Clip is below:
