REAL Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne has found herself spiraling from riches to rags.
The Bravo star’s drastic lifestyle change comes after she and husband Tom Girardi were accused of “stealing millions from orphans.”
Erika, 49, and Tom, 82, recently found themselves at the center of controversy when the lawyer was accused of stealing from his clients that he pledged to help.
The pair first met in the 1990s while Erika was working as a waitress at Chasen’s, a popular Hollywood restaurant where Tom was a regular.
The RHOBH star and Tom began a friendship before beginning a romantic relationship a year later, while they became engaged within six months of dating.
They got married in 2000, when Tom was still in the middle of a settlement with his first wife about communal assets.
Despite these issues, the couple were worth $264 million when they joined RHOBH in 2015 and were shown living in a $13 million mansion.
The successful lawyer has a net worth of $100,000, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Throughout their relationship, Erika and Tom were known to flaunt their wealth as they enjoyed the more expensive things in life.
Back in November 2020, the pair made headlines when the Bravo star filed for divorce from Tom after 21 years of marriage.
Erika previously revealed to Andy Cohen in June 2017 that she and her ex-husband never signed a prenuptial agreement.
A prenuptial agreement is a private agreement between a couple signed before they get married, which sets forth the division of their assets in the event of divorce or death.
“I’m married to a very powerful lawyer. A prenup wouldn’t stand in his way anyway,” she said at the time.
“So it doesn’t matter whether you had one or you didn’t, it’s gonna be all Tom’s way, I assure you.”
She added: “He’ll rip that piece of paper to shreds in two seconds!”
Erika touched on their split during the June 16 episode of RHOBH, in which she admitted her divorce from Tom is “so f***ing complicated.”
The episode kicked off with Erika preparing to come face to face with her fellow Bravo stars for the first time since announcing her split from the lawyer.
While preparing to face her friends, Erika said: “There’s so many layers to this divorce.
“It’s so f**king complicated. It’s very difficult to explain.”
Speaking of the other RHOBH stars, she added: “You know, I’m sure that they were very shocked and that they’re going to have a lot of questions.”
Shortly after the divorce filing, Tom, his law firm and Erika were sued for allegedly embezzling millions in December.
The lawsuit claimed Thomas, who is a personal injury attorney, “resorted to embezzling the proceeds of settlements that should have been directed to his clients—including the widows and orphans who lost loved ones in the tragic crash of Lion Air Flight 610.”
The complaint accused Tom of embezzling the settlement proceeds in order to “continue funding his and Erika’s lavish Beverly Hills lifestyles.”
The court papers claimed: “Tom and Erika have reached celebrity status in the glitz-and-glam world of Hollywood and Beverly Hills.
“To keep up their celebrity status, Tom and Erika must project a public image of obscene wealth at all times, and at whatever the cost.”
Thomas’ law firm is “on the verge of financial collapse” and currently owes “tens of millions of dollars,” the court papers claimed.
The attorney was held in civil contempt and his assets were frozen when he failed to explain why he couldn’t pay the $2 million he owes to four of his clients.
More legal drama followed, as The Celeb Report exclusively reported that Tom had been hit with two more lawsuits for over $1 million for “fraud and contract breach.”
The Plaintiff, Law Offices of Philip R. Sheldon, claimed in 2008 and 2009 that a number of clients hired Thomas to represent them for personal injuries sustained from exposure to toxic chemicals from cement manufacturing facilities in California.
The two law firms jointly represented the clients and allegedly agreed to share the attorney fees.
The Plaintiff claimed Thomas and his law firm “kept the money for themselves,” according to court docs.
Following the claims against her ex, Erika has denied ever knowing what Tom was up to and how he funded their lavish lifestyle.
A source told Us Weekly: “Erika was completely unaware of the very serious allegations that were being made against Tom in court.
“Tom always handled all of the finances and that was how they handled things. Erika feels betrayed by Tom because she completely trusted him.”
As the legal drama continued to unfold, Hulu released a special about the scandal called The Housewife and the Hustler.
The documentary reveals the inner workings of the multimillionaire’s legal career and his wife’s over-the-top spending habits.
Tom’s friend, LA attorney and former president of the Bar Association Brian Kabateck, said that the way multimillionaire was depicted on the RHOBH was bad for his career and showed that the couple lived beyond their means.
Brian said in the documentary: “Probably most appalling was talk that they had two airplanes. And that’s crossing the line in what we do. We represent people who are victimized by big corporations and rich people.
“And here you are putting it out that you’re super wealthy. And that you’re basically the man. We sue the man! You don’t want to be the man and he’s showing people he’s the man.”
Tom’s victims also appear in the doc as they opened up about their experience with the lawyer and explained how he allegedly scammed them.
It appears Erika has been adjusting to her less lavish lifestyle, as she was recently spotted running errands in a casual ensemble.
The Bravo star, who has left the former couple’s $7 million Pasadena mansion and settled into a more modest $1.5million home in Hancock Park, LA, was seen in sweats.
Photographs exclusively obtained by The Celeb Report showed Erika wearing a blue t-shirt from the “Billionaire Boys Club” range after downgrading her lifestyle.
It seems her pricey glam squad, paid a reported $40,000 a month, are no longer around 24/7 as she appeared to go make-up free and braless with un-styled locks.
The 49-year-old completed the casual look with black leggings, white trainers and a pair of white cat-eye sunglasses.
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