The dramatic legal saga involving Erika Jayne and Tom Girardi on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills sounds like a tale straight out of a dark and twisted movie. EJ filed for divorce from the longtime lawyer, just days after gushing about her husband, in what seems to be an attempt to protect her ass-ets. Tom is accused of allegedly embezzling more than $26 million in unpaid settlement funds from his clients, many of whom are victims of horrific accidents, to fund his extravagant lifestyle. The tale has everything a suspenseful drama flick needs — cheating allegations, health scares and a main character who’s claiming she’s a “scapegoat” with a tribe of yes women by her side.
Last week’s RHOBH episode showed when Erika dropped the bomb on her friends that she filed for divorce, but it’s unclear how much will really be revealed. We know Sutton Stracke allegedly asks the tough questions to EJ amidst it all, but something tells me from Erika’s attitude that it’s nothing but smoke and mirrors. Thankfully, ABC released a new documentary on Hulu entitled “The Housewife and the Hustler” to attempt at getting the nitty-gritty facts about the whole ordeal.
The nitty-gritty of the allegations against Tom and his once-praised law practice is truly horrific. Victims of plane crashes, car accidents and more never received their money so that Erika Girardi could go from housewife to pop star. Which apparently requires a minimum $40k a month for glam.
Us Weekly reports that one victim interviewed in the new documentary allegedly had a harrowing conversation with the lawyer when asking for their payout. Josie Hernandez says she contracted tom in 2014 after undergoing several surgeries, intended to be an implant for “incontinence issues” after childbirth, went awry and made her sick. The Girardi-Keese firm settled the case for $135,000. But by 2019, Josie says she hadn’t seen a cent of her earnings.
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Josie plays a voicemail in the documentary that Tom left her in August 2020. He says, “I don’t want you mad at me. I’m working like a dog to try and get this thing resolved. … I’m in your corner. … I’m a good guy, by the way.” Does anyone who’s actually a “good guy” really feel the need to clarify that? Jose added that Tom is “unbelievably cruel” to leave the message.
The victim filed a complaint with the bar and discovered Tom’s firm received the money in May 2020. So it seems as though the attorney left the voicemail as a decoy, knowing good and well he (allegedly) already had her money in his accounts. But we know that the California bar received complaints for years about the Girardi firm with little to no action. To this day, Josie has yet to receive those settlement funds from the case. The feds could at least give her a few things from EJ’s closet in the meantime while they finish watching the current RHOBH season ahead of a trial.
RELATED: California Bar Admits “Mistakes” Handling Years Of Complaints Against Tom Girardi
TELL US – DID YOU WATCH THE GIRARDI DOCUMENTARY ON HULU? DO YOU THINK ERIKA WILL OWN UP TO ANY INVOLVEMENT? DO YOU THINK HE’S A “GOOD GUY”?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
