Every Housewife for herself. The newest Real Housewife of Beverly Hills star Crystal Kung Minkoff joined “Andy’s Girls” podcast host Sarah Galli to chat about her time on the Bravo hit and what she really thought about watching costar Erika Jane’s legal woes play out on camera.
The Bravo personality, 38, revealed that she understood why show fans were upset the “XXPEN$IVE” singer, 50, hadn’t publicly expressed her sympathy for the victims of her estranged husband Tom Girardi’s alleged crimes.
“I totally understand, I really do,” Minkoff said on the podcast, which was released Saturday, August 7. “And I would probably feel that same way, had I not been on the show. Because you can watch everything through this sort of lens. Right? Social media is edited too, all of it. It’s designed to create a story, right? All I know, for me, is that I saw a whole person.”
The Real Coco founder further explained how, off-camera, she saw “someone who constantly messaged and messaged me to check-in and see how I’m doing with the show,” who even told her how difficult RHOBH can be for its stars.
“That’s the person that I get to experience,” the California resident continued. “That being said, whatever guidance she’s getting, there has to be a reason to not address what’s going on with the victims. Because those are the real victims. But, by the way, she might be a victim too. We don’t know.”
Minkoff even claimed that the Dancing with the Stars alum is in “survival mode” at the moment.
“I can’t imagine that that’s not what’s in her heart,” the University of California, Irvine alum added. “It’s hard for me to imagine that that’s not something that she thinks about all the time. I think right now — and this is all speculation. Because I try to put myself in her situation, right?” She continued, “Mine was leather pants, and I felt my world was spiraling of the intensity of arguing about a word. But this is real stuff.”
The Bravo personality noted that what her costar is going through is “unimaginable,” and it would be difficult for anyone to put themselves in her shoes. “You can try, I try,” she said. “So what I think, I think she is likely in survival mode. Her whole life has crumbled. It’s not crumbling – it’s crumbled. Right? And whether she is a victim, or we don’t know.”
The entrepreneur revealed the “Roller Coaster” singer had to process Girardi’s alleged crimes in real-time during filming. “I’d like to give grace to her in that she’s going through trauma,” Minkoff said. “And just because someone else’s trauma is bigger, which is no doubt, the victims’ [trauma] is bigger — whether she knew or not — her trauma is real for her.” She added, “I think if people want Erika to act … that’s also unrealistic. This was ten months ago. ‘Just keep watching,’ is what you’re supposed to say. So I think that for her, because the story is just starting still — we’re not at the end — I think it’s just time. That’s what I imagine is happening.”
Minkoff explained during the podcast that she hasn’t asked her fellow RHOBH star many questions because “it’s none of [her] business.”
“If she wants to share with me, she will,” she concluded. “But I just can’t imagine she doesn’t think about [the victims]. She’s never shown me that kind of person, the kind of person she is.”
A month after the Broadway alum filed for divorce from the 82-year-old former attorney in November 2020, the pair were served with a fraud lawsuit that accused them of embezzling settlement funds intended for the victims of a plane crash. The current RHOBH season has chronicled her reaction to the ongoing legal drama.
