Everything the ‘RHOBH’ Cast Has Said About Erika Jayne’s Divorce, Legal Drama

Credit: John Tsiavis/Bravo

Everything the ‘RHOBH’ Cast Has Said About Erika Jayne’s Divorce, Legal Drama

The biggest scandal in Housewives history? Erika Jayne’s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills costars can’t avoid talking about her tumultuous divorce from Tom Girardi and the spouses’ subsequent legal drama. Roughly one month into the production of season 11 of RHOBH, Erika filed for divorce from her husband of more than 20 years in November 2020. The following month, the Pretty Mess author and the former attorney were accused of stealing settlement funds intended for the families of victims killed in a 2018 plane crash. “It was shocking. It was absolutely shocking. I mean, you don't wish this on your worst enemy. So to have Erika going through all that and the fact … that she showed up, I don't know if I would have showed up, honestly," Garcelle Beauvais told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in June. "The fact that she showed up, I think, was really tremendous on her part." As season 11 airs on Bravo, fans are watching Beauvais, Kyle Richards, Lisa Rinna, Dorit Kemsley, Crystal Kung Minkoff and Sutton Stracke learn about the divorce and lawsuits in real time. The scandal was also explored in Hulu’s The Housewife and the Hustler, which featured Tom’s alleged victims, legal experts and former Housewives stars Danielle Staub and Dana Wilkey. While the ABC News Originals special has made waves on social media, Cohen isn’t so sure about the doc, noting on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live on June 16 that he doesn’t think The Housewife and the Hustler “will affect [Erika's] future on the show.” [jwplayer mYRl3TaC-l3ahXupL] The Bravo producer added, “I will say the idea that Danielle Staub and Dana Wilkey are the experts in this documentary about Erika is questionable at best. So I kind of realized I wasn’t gonna learn anything new from them about Erika. …The Tom Girardi stories continue to be deeply disturbing, and we have to see how this plays out.” Erika, meanwhile, told Beauvais in the trailer for the season that she didn’t know about the fraud lawsuit — or the other allegations against Tom. “I did not see it ending this way,” the performer told her castmates in another clip. “I was gonna hold that man’s hand until he died.” Scroll through for everything the cast has said about Erika’s drama:

Credit: John Tsiavis/Bravo

Everything the ‘RHOBH’ Cast Has Said About Erika Jayne’s Divorce, Legal Drama

The biggest scandal in Housewives history? Erika Jayne’s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills costars can’t avoid talking about her tumultuous divorce from Tom Girardi and the spouses’ subsequent legal drama. Roughly one month into the production of season 11 of RHOBH, Erika filed for divorce from her husband of more than 20 years in November 2020. The following month, the Pretty Mess author and the former attorney were accused of stealing settlement funds intended for the families of victims killed in a 2018 plane crash. “It was shocking. It was absolutely shocking. I mean, you don't wish this on your worst enemy. So to have Erika going through all that and the fact … that she showed up, I don't know if I would have showed up, honestly," Garcelle Beauvais told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in June. "The fact that she showed up, I think, was really tremendous on her part." As season 11 airs on Bravo, fans are watching Beauvais, Kyle Richards, Lisa Rinna, Dorit Kemsley, Crystal Kung Minkoff and Sutton Stracke learn about the divorce and lawsuits in real time. The scandal was also explored in Hulu’s The Housewife and the Hustler, which featured Tom’s alleged victims, legal experts and former Housewives stars Danielle Staub and Dana Wilkey. While the ABC News Originals special has made waves on social media, Cohen isn’t so sure about the doc, noting on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live on June 16 that he doesn’t think The Housewife and the Hustler “will affect [Erika's] future on the show.” [jwplayer mYRl3TaC-l3ahXupL] The Bravo producer added, “I will say the idea that Danielle Staub and Dana Wilkey are the experts in this documentary about Erika is questionable at best. So I kind of realized I wasn’t gonna learn anything new from them about Erika. …The Tom Girardi stories continue to be deeply disturbing, and we have to see how this plays out.” Erika, meanwhile, told Beauvais in the trailer for the season that she didn’t know about the fraud lawsuit — or the other allegations against Tom. “I did not see it ending this way,” the performer told her castmates in another clip. “I was gonna hold that man’s hand until he died.” Scroll through for everything the cast has said about Erika’s drama:

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Garcelle’s Implication

During the June 16 episode, Garcelle implied that Erika should’ve just waited for Tom, who was 81 at the time, to pass away instead of taking legal action to end their union. “I just feel like they’ve been married that long, like …  I didn’t say it! I’m implying it and y’all are slow!”

Sutton replied, “Stop it, Garcelle!” 

Her remarks came before the cast knew about the lawsuits. 

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Kyle on How Erika’s Coping

After The Housewife and the Hustler dropped in June, Richards told Access Hollywood that “she’s doing OK.” She added: “I mean, you know, obviously it’s a hard time.”

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How They Found Out

Erika texted Kemsley, Richards and Rinna to inform them that she filed for divorce on Election Day in November 2020. The message read: “Ladies, I truly consider you my close friends and this is why I’m reaching out to tell you that I filed for divorce this morning. Thank you for supporting me. This will be tough.”

The three women were in shock. “It’s Erika, so whatever’s going on, she had to do it like this. She couldn’t tell anybody,” the Melrose Place alum said during the June 7 episode.

Richards added, “It’s a long time to spend with someone to all of a sudden be done.”

Credit: John Tsiavis/Bravo (2)

Rinna Didn’t Know

"I didn't know until she sent that text to us today. I instantly called her and, you know, I was just as surprised as we all were,” the actress said during the June 16 episode. 

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Kyle on Erika Dropping Hints

Richards has said on several occasions that Erika didn’t reveal any marital issues during the cast trip to Tahoe, California, but looking back, she’s seeing the signs.

"Looking back on it, Kyle, do you think that Erika was dropping little hints in Tahoe? Like, when she said, 'Nothing is like what it seems'? Did you get that, or no?" Cohen asked on WWHL in June.

The Halloween star replied, “In her [Erika's] interview bites, I definitely felt like she was giving some hints there, yes."

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Garcelle on Erika’s Honesty

The actress commended her costar for not ditching filming amid the divorce and legal drama.

“We don’t shy away from it. The show doesn’t shy away from it. And Erika was amazing [in] that she was as honest as she was,” she told Us in April.

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Dorit Defends Erika

After attorney Ronald Richards suggested in February that a robbery at the former couple’s Pasadena, California, estate was a “scam” based on a photo Erika posted, Kemsley stepped in.

“I can 100% confirm this was NOT at the Pasadena home. Please, give her a break already! Innocent until proven guilty. This has moved beyond reporting to full on bullying,” the swimsuit designer tweeted.

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Sutton Bonded With Erika Over Divorce

"Our relationship gets stronger and ya know, really kinda bonding over her divorce,” Stracke told the Daily Mail in May. "I understand what going through a divorce is from a really powerful man and what that feels like. That kinda brought us closer together.”

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Crystal Weighs In

"I'm brand new and when her stuff was kind of revealed, I'd just jumped into the group. So for me, from my perspective, [I] was just to be there as a good friend and for as a little as I knew her, she was kind to me so I'm going to be kind,” the newcomer told E! News in June. "But for the other girls, each of them have their own perspectives and their own length of time that they know her and the depths of their friendships, so I think it's a challenge on every level, how deep they can support or question her or have questions just about anything. So for me it was just really about being a supportive friend. This group is a very close group and they are very supportive."

When asked if she believed Erika during a June 2021 Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen appearance, Crystal said, "When she told us about her divorce, I had only met her two weeks into that, so of course I believed [her]."

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Kathy Believes Her

During the same episode of WWHL, Kathy Hilton added that she had only met Erika two years prior. "She was very polite and quiet and lovely. I put her at our table 'cause I felt like I didn't know her," Hilton said at the time. "So I just don't know. I believe she's telling the truth."