Key Takeaways
- Snooki said she was joking when she asked Five Below for a check over its $5.55 pickle-themed shirt featuring her face, telling critics, “I literally put LOL in it as a joke.”
- The Jersey Shore star rejected claims that she was being greedy, saying she still hustles to support three kids and regularly shops at Five Below herself.
- She ruled out suing the retailer, while her longtime pickle obsession continues with a recent Kaylin + Kaylin collection and an upcoming “America’s Pickle Queen” coronation at The Big Dill festival.
In case you missed it, Five Below is selling a $5.55 T-shirt featuring Snooki and her longtime love of pickles. And in case you also missed the drama over her joking about wanting a check, the Jersey Shore star would like everyone to relax.
Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi addressed the criticism in an October 18 TikTok she filmed while getting ready for her son's football game. The 38-year-old was replying to a fan who wrote, “Oh my I love you girl but you’re rich enough don’t be greedy.”
Polizzi explained that whenever people mention the shirt, she jokingly asks Five Below where her check is. “I literally put LOL in it as a joke,” she said, calling the angry responses “so annoying.”
Not that she has anything against the retailer. In fact, she's a regular. “I love Five Below and I go in there once a week,” she said, explaining that she shops for her daughter there and even puts together her annual cheerleading showcase basket with finds from the discount chain.
The remarks about her finances, however, were harder to laugh off.
“How rich do you guys think I am?” Polizzi asked. “I literally hustle every day. I’m at my stores every day working. I got three kids to put into college.”
She also made clear that she's not preparing a legal battle over the graphic tee, even if it does feature her face. “I’m not actually gonna sue Five Below. Like, are we kidding?” she said. “I could if I wanted to. I could be really annoyed about it because it’s my face and my likeness and literally me on a shirt, but I mean, it’s not that serious.”
A number of people in the comments thought she had every right to ask about getting paid. “Even if you weren’t serious… I think you should get paid!” one person wrote. Another encouraged her to sue, while someone else summed up the dispute with, “People can’t take a joke.”
Snooki's pickle obsession goes back to the original Jersey Shore, when “pickles are my thing” became one of her memorable lines. She's since turned that love into a business, launching a limited-edition pickle collection with Kaylin + Kaylin in September.
And the timing couldn't be better. According to The Wall Street Journal, sales of pickle-flavored snacks jumped 30% over the previous year, compared with 3.8% growth for snacks overall.
According to the city of Arlington, Texas, she's also scheduled to be crowned “America's Pickle Queen” at The Big Dill festival on November 7. As festival co-founder Kevin Baxter put it, “Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi did not jump on the pickle trend. The pickle trend caught up to her.”
