‘RHONJ’ Alum Amber Marchese Defends Parenting Amid Son’s Claims: ‘Your Job Is Not to Be Liked’

Former Real Housewives of New Jersey star Amber Marchese took to Instagram on Saturday, June 29, to defend herself and her husband, Jim Marchese, in the midst of their gay son’s college tuition scandal.

“Your job as a mother is not to be liked — if your kid is angry because you said no, don’t give in. Your job is not to be liked but to raise a kind, honest human being,” the quote read.

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Amber, 41, continued to tell her side of the story in the caption. “Thank you all who have supported me and my family. One of my Instagram friends gave this to me and it is awesome. Parenting is not easy, even harder when family strife is forced into the public domain,” she wrote. “Please pray for Michael and our family. Try not to be so critical and assuming, we are just regular folks. Jim and I are standing stronger than ever with God, our friends, family, and social media family who knows our true heart and soul. #parenting #bekindtoall #love #unplugging #God #mother #father #parents #weareallone #notcondoningpoorbehavior.”

Earlier this week, Amber and Jim, 50, came under fire after Jim’s biological son and Amber’s stepson, James a.k.a. “Michael,” claimed in an interview with Instinct magazine that he had been cut off by his dad and stepmom because he was gay. James, 19, claimed that his father refused to pay for his tuition at Fairfield University in Connecticut because of his sexual orientation.

The former Bravo stars have claimed that they did not refuse to pay for their son’s college tuition because of his sexuality, but because they could not afford it. “As far as college, we tell all of our children that we are going to be economically smart about it. Michael does not get a more expensive school because he wants special privileges for being gay. Michael is using our platform to browbeat us into going to a school that we said no to,” Amber wrote in a statement on Instagram. “Currently, it is not in our budget. This is called a temper tantrum from a spoiled rotten, privileged young teenager. Michael, I forgive you, I love you, and you can always come home as you are. Nothing you do will make me love you less. However, the answer is still a resounding NO!!”