John Karagiorgis, the scion of Clifton's legendary hot dog joint Rutt's Hut who also played a role as a "Real Housewives of New Jersey" antagonist, has died from a massive heart attack, a Rutt's Hut worker confirms.

Karagiorgis, 41, of Paramus, was the son of Rutt's Hut owner Nicholas Karagiorgis, who took over the nearly 90-year-old restaurant, famed for his deep-fried hot dogs, from founder Royal Rutt in 1975.

Just found out some very heartbreaking news! The world lost a great man, husband, and father yesterday. John... Posted by Rosa Montana on Sunday, June 5, 2016

John Karagiorgis serves up a "ripper" with cheese and onions at Rutt's Hut in Clifton. Karagiorgis died this weekend from a massive heart attack.

The blustery younger Karagiorgis, a fixture at the roadhouse, also appeared as a "Real Housewives of New Jersey" antagonist in season five, when he became embroiled in a fight featured in the "RHONJ" finale -- a fracas that led to criminal charges against him and three "RHONJ" stars and a civil lawsuit in which he claimed reality show producers engineered the fight.

Karagiorgis and his wife Penny Drossos, who owns a Fair Lawn hair salon, had been accused of stirring up rumors about star Melissa Gorga and of making fun of co-stars Jacqueline and Chris Laurita's son Nicholas, who has autism, which Karagiorgis denied.

At a taping of an opening reception for Posche boutique in Ridgewood in March 2013, a fight broke out between Karagiorgis, Melissa's husband Joe and the Lauritas. Karagiorgis filed criminal charges against the three stars, and they followed suit, but they all eventually agreed to drop the criminal charges.

Then Karagiorgis and Drossos filed a civil lawsuit against Bravo, NBC and the show's producers, alleging they were ambushed by the stars, who were egged on by producers who wanted maximum drama out of the altercation. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount earlier this year.

Drossos posted her wedding photo and photos of Karagiorgis with their two children on Facebook Sunday morning.

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