Real Housewives of Miami alum Lenny Hochstein is accusing estranged wife Lisa Hochstein of abuse amid his defamation lawsuit.
Lenny, 57, claimed Lisa, 41, “consistently hit” him throughout their marriage, which began in 2009, according to documents obtained by Us Weekly filed on May 17. The filings are the most recent addition to Lenny’s defamation case against Lisa that began in December 2023.
“There are too many times over the course of the marriage to list each instance of physical abuse by [Lisa] against [Lenny] … However, to be clear, at no point in time did [Lenny] ever strike or hit back at [Lisa] or push or initiate any physical harm to [Lisa] in any way,” the docs state, pointing to the alleged physical abuse from Lisa as one of the “reasons” Larry “initiated divorce proceedings” in May 2022.
When contacted by Us about his latest legal claims, Lenny added: “That’s the reality of it. I never hit her and she hit me countless times. Everything that she has accused me of is typically her behavior not mine.”
But Lenny clarified he never felt threatened by his ex. “Lisa is 100 pounds. She never hurt me. I never felt like she was hurting me or I was an abused person,” he said. “But that’s the reality. The only way she has ever hurt me are in the things she has said, not done.”
Lisa’s attorney denies the doctor’s allegations: “Mr. Hochstein’s allegations are unfounded, and we plan to prove this is a frivolous lawsuit,” Matthew Moore told Us.
The next hearing in the former couple’s ongoing legal battle is set for Thursday, May 30.
Lenny’s claims come months after Lisa accused him of abuse in November 2023. Lisa posted a photo of her bruised arm on Instagram at the time, implying her estranged husband was the abuser.
“Didn’t want to have to share this, but I’m left with no choice. I’m being harassed through the court system and through ‘others’ by Lenny and it needs to stop,” she wrote via her Instagram Story, which expired after 24 hours on her page. “This was almost two weeks old from last season. You may have caught this bruise on the episode when I opened up to the women on the show about the divorce.”
Days after Lisa’s post, Lenny vehemently denied the abuse allegations and filed a defamation suit against the Bravo star seeking damages up to $100,000 and attorneys’ fees. At the time, he claimed Lisa got the bruise on her arm after she “lost her balance” while walking up the stairs.
He reiterated his claims in the May filing, writing, “At the same time [Lisa] was yelling at [Lenny] walking up the stairs, [she] fell on her own on the stairs, which caused the bruise at issue. At no time did [he] do anything to or touch [her] to cause any falling on the stairs, the bruise or otherwise.”
Lenny, who works as a plastic surgeon, claimed Lisa’s allegations “damaged” his business and caused female patients to cancel their plastic surgery appointments, adding, “Females typically do not like going to ‘abusers’ for their surgery and/or cosmetic needs.”
At the time of his December 2023 filing, Lenny exclusively told Us, “I think an accusation that is so serious and heinous has to be responded to. The fact is I have never hit a woman in my life, certainly not Lisa.”
Lisa, for her part, spoke exclusively to Us about the lawsuit and claimed it was an effort on Lenny’s part to drain her financially.
“This does seem like something ‘litigator Lenny’ would do as he’s made it clear he’s out to financially strangle me,” Lisa told Us in a statement. “He’s not happy unless he’s suing.”
In addition to the ongoing defamation lawsuit, Lenny and Lisa are also engaged in a messy divorce battle. After filing for divorce in October 2022, Lenny went public with girlfriend Katharina Mazepa, whom he got engaged to in July 2023. Lisa previously alleged that Mazepa, 28, was Lenny’s “mistress,” though Lenny claimed that the couple began dating after he and Lisa had already separated.
Lenny then accused Lisa, who has since moved on with boyfriend Jody Glidden, of infidelity, calling her the “real homewrecker of Miami” in a statement to Us.
Reporting by Andrea Simpson
