The reality star was sued in 2021 for allegedly spending more than $25 million of estranged husband Tom Girardi's law firm's money
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NEED TO KNOW
- Erika Jayne discussed her legal options ahead of her $25 million civil fraud trial starting May 19
- She revealed feeling emotionally and financially abused by estranged husband Tom Girardi during their marriage
- Girardi, convicted of wire fraud, is serving a seven-year prison sentence after embezzling over $15 million from clients
Erika Jayne is opening up about her upcoming $25 million civil fraud trial.
In 2021, the reality star, 54, was sued by the trustee handling the bankruptcy case involving her estranged husband Tom Girardi's law firm Girardi Keese. The trustee accused Jayne and her companies of spending more than $25 million of the firm's money on her own expenses.
While Jayne has long denied any wrongdoing and has not been criminally charged, host Andy Cohen asked during part one of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion that aired on Thursday, April 23, what her options are if she loses the lawsuit after it begins trial on May 19.
"You can file for bankruptcy, or you can fight it out in court," she said. "You can go to trial, you can cut a deal, you can die in the streets — I have no idea."
Credit: Griffin Nagel/Bravo
The same day as the reunion, the trustee sold the litigation claims to a third party.
Jayne filed for divorce from Girardi in 2020. Within a month, the former lawyer was tangled in a complicated web of legal controversies. He was accused of embezzling client funds for his own personal spending; he was sued by his former law firm partners; and his law firm was facing bankruptcy.
In 2024, Girardi was convicted of four counts of wire fraud following a 13-day trial after embezzling more than $15 million from his clients over 10 years, from 2010 to 2020. Girardi — who was placed under a temporary conservatorship after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's and dementia — reported to prison in July to begin his seven-year sentence.
When Cohen asked Jayne what her No. 1 question for Girardi would be, she simply stated, "Why?"
"Why did he throw me out like that?" she continued. "If you think about it, I'm in an almost impossible situation. I'm swimming under all of these lawsuits."
Credit: Trae Patton/Bravo
Jayne added that speaking out about an unnamed partner's past abuse this season brought up "a lot of other shame," including the shame she's felt "about Tom."
"I walked on ice a lot with Tom," she alleged. "Looking back at it, it was always thin ice. It was constantly an interrogation. It was constantly a battle."
Jayne claimed she felt emotionally and financially abused by Girardi.
"Tom one time did not talk to me for six weeks, and we lived in the same house," she said. "As sweet as Tom could be, is as vicious as Tom could be."
Credit: Griffin Nagel/Bravo
Jayne added that Girardi "never thought" she'd be cast on RHOBH.
"I remember him telling me after my first interview, ‘You're not going to get this job,'" she claimed. "When I said, ‘I got the job,' he was kind of like, ‘You got the job?'"
Through their relationship, Jayne said she often questioned "how much of that was an act?"
"I was in the Tom Girardi influence," she said.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Tuesdays at 8 PM ET on Bravo.
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