Erika Jayne’s time in the hot seat continued during part two of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion as she was forced to answer questions about whether her estranged husband, Tom Girardi, is guilty of misusing funds.
“It does not look good. However, we still need to get to the bottom of it. Only one side of the story has been told,” the 50-year-old reality star said on the Wednesday, October 20, episode. “I feel terrible. This is not who I am. And I hope this is not who he is. … I hope that he has not done what is alleged here.”
Erika and Tom, 82, have been accused of embezzling money intended for the families of plane crash victims. After news of the class action lawsuit broke in December 2020, allegations were made by the bankruptcy trustee that claimed the Pretty Mess author is liable for $25 million in misused funds.
“The bankruptcy trustee is getting down to, you know, they’ve got to sort out what money was supposed to go where. And at this point, quite honestly, I have to worry about myself. Whatever Tom Girardi did or did not do, that’s on him,” Erika said on Wednesday. “His life is over. He’s in his 80s, he’s in a memory care facility, his career is over and done. I just turned 50. I cannot allow all of this to destroy me and take me to a place that I cannot recover. I have to survive this. So that’s why I’m feisty.”
Tom, who previously claimed in court that he was broke, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and dementia earlier this year and subsequently placed under a conservatorship.
“There was no talking to this person, trying to get him to answer my questions, being shut out completely — anger, personality changes, and you can see now, look, the man is in a home, he’s in a memory care facility. We’ve all seen the pictures of him with a black eye,” Erika said of filing for divorce in November 2020. “We’ve seen how disheveled and how absolutely horrible he has deteriorated since I left.”
According to The New York Times, Erika has been named in more than six lawsuits against Tom in recent months.
“It’s not unusual in Tom’s business for him to be sued. But when Erika Girardi started ending up on lawsuits, that’s when my ears were perked up,” she told Andy Cohen. “I am not at liberty to say what — and at what time — I sought legal counsel. … I did nothing wrong [when I left].”
Part three of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs on Bravo Wednesday, October 27, at 8 p.m. ET.
