Family feud. Mauricio Umansky claimed that his sister-in-law Kathy Hilton and her husband, Rick Hilton, were upset when he left Rick’s company to start The Agency.
“He and Kathy held tremendous anger toward us, which is not the way I choose to live my life,” the real estate broker, 52, wrote in his new memoir, The Dealmaker, which hit shelves on Tuesday, April 11. “Naturally, Kyle was very hurt by their reaction, and it was a difficult pill for her to swallow.”
Umansky is married to Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards, who is the younger half-sister of Kathy, 64. The siblings have had many ups and downs over the years, but their most recent feud happened during season 12 of RHOBH. The Halloween actress, 54, and her sister found themselves at odds during a cast trip to Aspen, but most of their issues weren’t caught on camera.
Last year, Umansky hinted to Us that there was drama behind the scenes that wasn’t discussed on the Bravo series. “I know a lot of the stuff that’s going on in the background, which isn’t exactly what’s being put out there,” the Buying Beverly Hills star explained in October 2022. “Being supportive of Kyle, I think Kyle’s a hundred percent in the right here without question.”
In his book, Umansky claimed he decided to start his real estate brokerage, The Agency, in 2011 after Rick, 67, refused to make him a “full partner” at his own company. “So, I went home to Kyle and told her what had happened,” the Netflix star wrote. “She agreed with me that it was very unjust. But ultimately it didn’t matter what we thought. In my opinion, Rick wasn’t going to change his mind, and he wasn’t prepared to pay me what I’d earned.”
The University of Southern California alum went on to say that he would have stayed at his brother-in-law’s firm, Hilton & Hyland, if they paid him what he “deserved,” showed him “an inkling of professional love” and gave him a promotion.
“For their part, they didn’t see it that way,” Umansky alleged. “They couldn’t understand how I could just make the decision overnight and not give them a chance to convince me otherwise.”
According to Umansky, Rick stopped speaking to him after he left Hilton & Hyland — and extended that cold shoulder to Richards as well. “And of course his wife, Kathy — Kyle’s sister — did the same,” Umansky wrote. “They cut all communication and no longer invited us to Thanksgiving dinners or other holidays.”
The Mexico native added that his wife was “unconditionally supportive” of his decision to leave Rick’s company and strike out on his own. “She’s not only my wife; she’s my best friend,” Umansky added.
Despite the tension, Kathy told Us last year that she thinks she and Richards will eventually mend fences. “I think that, sure, [there’s a chance at reconciliation]. I mean, we love each other,” the socialite said at BravoCon in October 2022. “We’re sisters. Nobody’s gonna come between us at the end of the day.”
The Paris in Love alum previously told Us that she couldn’t reveal “exactly what happened” during the Aspen trip. “I said some things because I was just venting in a personal conversation with someone and it was not filmed,” Kathy explained in July 2022. “I was frustrated. There’s not an excuse for it.”
