Bullying has become a real hot-button topic of late, and for good reason. However, it’s become increasingly commonplace for celebrities (especially minor ones like reality stars) to try and win over the public’s affection by pointing out that they were teased as children. While I certainly don’t mean to minimize the problem of bullying, it’s clear that the topic reaches a point of ridiculousness when a bully attempts to justify their own behavior by pointing out that they too were bullied in younger years. Such is the case with Ronnie Ortiz-Magro from the “Jersey Shore” cast.

To put it bluntly, Ronnie is a vibrating orange ball of rage. He’s been in more fights than all of the other cast members combined. In a new interview with In Touch, Ronnie denies many things including being a bully and taking steroids. In fact, he says that his proclivity for physical altercations only has to do with growing up in the Bronx and being teased as a youth. He’s only defending himself, you see.

From what I recall about “Shore” fights (and at this point, I’ve caught every episode), Ronnie’s never really been physically threatened by anyone. His Season One fight (that got him arrested) started because a guy was calling him names; his Season Three brawls with Sammi started with verbal squabbling; and Ronnie’s Season Four fight with The Situation started because of more “fighting words.” Maybe Ron’s really not on steroids but cocaine instead. After all, there was that blind item from awhile back about a “Shore” cast member going wild on coke, but that could easily be pinned on The Situation for his money woes. Whatever the cause, Ronnie possesses definite rage issues because nobody in their right mind would flip over his girlfriend’s bed (while she’s on top of it) unless they’ve got a serious problem. Here’s Ronnie attempting to explain away his behavior:

He Doesn’t Do Roids: “People say I’m on steroids because they can’t look like this eating fast food three days a week.”

On Growing Up Tiny: “When you get to high school, you realize how small you really are. Everyone was always bigger than me, and being a lot smaller, I got picked on a lot by guys in the grades above me. My parents always taught me to walk away from a fight, but from a guy’s point of view, how many times can you walk away? In other places you get respect, but in the Bronx, you have to earn it.”

On Hitting the Gym: ” I grew up watching guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Rock, and Stone Cold Steve Austin and knew I wasn’t going to look like that sitting on the couch — I had to motivate and make it happen. It was because of the bullying — and I also started to get into girls, too!”

On Being Called a Bully: “I get angry at that because every fight that I’ve been in on the show, I’ve been provoked or I’m defending myself. It’s the Bronx instinct: If you feel threatened, you defend yourself.”

On Learning: “Watching the show, I get to look back on my mistakes and say, ‘I’m not going to do that again.’ I grew up a lot during the Italy season. I stayed away from drama and just had a good time.”

He & Sammi are Over “It was literally the whole world against our relationship,” says Ronnie of his most recent breakup with Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola. “But I’d never talk bad about Sam; we’ve been through a lot together.” So what’s single Ronnie looking for now? “A girl who wants me in her life, but doesn’t need me in her life.”

[From In Touch, print edition, January 23, 2012]

It’s funny how Ronnie declares that he only fights when defending himself or when provoked. The guy has a permanently-lit fuse and has no idea about the legal definition of “provocation.” In fact and I really hate to say this, but Ronnie sounds a lot like a future abusive husband or boyfriend who justifies hitting a woman because she “pushed him to it.” I hope that’s never really the case, but it’s fairly obvious that Ronnie needs some help managing his temper. Trying to explain it away as being tiny in high school just doesn’t cut it.

Oh, and that bit about how Ronnie and Sammi are done? Seriously, this time it’s for real. Again. Even though they’ve broken up at least twenty five times over the course of the show and also gave Us Weekly an exclusive break-up statement to promote the season four finale? So laughable.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and Fame

Never let anyone accuse Sylvester Stallone of being a gentleman. Or classy. Or dignified in any way. Sly’s had a number of unhappy relationships over the years. He’s also been injecting God knows what into his body for at least the last… well let’s see, he’s 61 now… so I’m going to say he’s been injecting crap into his body for at least the last 58 years. Though if you’ve ever seen pictures of his mother, Jackie Stallone (who is an astrologer, former dancer, and promoter of women’s wrestling) you know the odds are pretty good he was getting some type of injection in the womb. That woman is all kinds of crazy. Anyway, Sly hooked up with equally crazy and self-proclaimed “World’s first supermodel” Janice Dickinson back in the early nineties. And between the mouths on the two of them, you’d think it’d be a match made in heaven, right? Well either that or a total nightmare, and it turns out it was more the latter. Janice got pregnant with what she thought was Sly’s daughter – turns out she’d slept with three guys in one week, and Stallone was not the dad. But they didn’t know that until two months after Dickenson’s daughter was born, and she and Sly stayed in a relationship until he found out the paternity. Janice is now claiming that not only did Sly juice himself, but he’d inject her too.

On U.S. news show Red Eye earlier this week, Dickinson alleged she had seen Stallone doing steroids. She said: “He juiced me.

“I’d wake up and my arm was as big as Popeye – steroids, testosterone, all that stuff that people say [mimicking Stallone voice], ‘Hey, it’s not that good ’cause you get really big, you know what I mean?’”

Host Greg Gutfeld replied: “So that’s an actual confirmation, though? You did see him juice?”

Dickinson answered: “I did confirm that, didn’t I?”

[From the Daily Mail]

Awesome. Dickinson claims that thanks to Sly’s “vitamin” and exercise regime, she was able to walk the catwalk for Versace six weeks after giving birth. Apparently her claims didn’t sit well with the always-upstanding Stallone, and he felt the need to defend his gentlemanly honor on Howard Stern’s show yesterday.

Sylvester Stallone had an armed guard deliver an advance screener of the new “Rambo” to Howard Stern, who gave the flick five stars when Sly called in yesterday to see if he liked it.

The talk quickly turned to women, with Sly denying Janice Dickinson’s claims he injected her with steroids. “The only thing I injected her with was my fist,” he joked. He also claimed Brigitte Nielsen was one of the “least crazy” women he’s dated and that saucy redhead Angie Everhart was demented.

[From Page Six]

You know what’s always funny? Jokes about beating up your former girlfriends. Really, that humor never gets old. God forbid there were 8 people left in the world that didn’t think Sylvester Stallone was a total slime ball. He’s probably just cranky from all the steroids he’s not injecting into himself. Or anybody else. I’m not saying there’s any reason to believe a word that comes out of Janice Dickinson’s mouth. That woman redefines crazy. But it’s probably not the greatest thing to joke that you beat her up. I think if there’s anyone out there who’s crazy enough to take on Sylvester Stallone in a fight, it’s Janice Dickinson.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Janice Dickinson at the Fox Reality Channel Really Awards on October 10th. Header of Stallone donating memorabilia from “Rambo” to Planet Hollywood on January 17th. Images thanks to PR Photos.