'2023 is going to be all about revenge': 'RHOBH' star Erika Jayne shares New Year goal amid ongoing lawsuits
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA: Erika Jayne appears to be determined to make 2023 her year. The 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' actress recently turned to Instagram to assure her fans that she is putting her lawsuit-filled 2022 behind her and is going after anybody and everyone who has knocked her down.
A day before New Year's Eve, the 'RHOBH' star shared a post on her Instagram story that voiced her resolution for 2023. The post originally shared by American television writer, Gary Janetti, read, "For me 2023 is going to be all about revenge." Before reposting the quote to her stories, she commented 'same' under the post which also had a comment from her co-star Lisa Rinna, who wrote, "Me too Gary." So, what revenge is Erika implying here? Well, the post is a bit vague, but her long-term fans and followers might believe the post was directed toward the number of lawsuits that were slammed on her in 2022.
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Erika Jayne has publicly discussed her legal problems on 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,' but much more turmoil has been going on behind the scenes. Her legal issues initially made headlines in November 2020, when she filed for divorce from Tom Girardi. Erika, who joined the Bravo series with her then-husband in 2015, was later implicated in a fraud complaint accusing her and Tom of stealing $2 million from aircraft disaster victims' settlement monies.
Throughout the trial, the Georgia native continued to record 'RHOBH,' using the show to prove her innocence. "Please understand, there are some things I cannot answer. But I will do my best to give every part of the story that I can," she said during the Season 11 reunion in November 2021. "This is the toughest part of my life. And I asked for patience with the ladies — and got some and some I didn’t. I asked for an understanding that these things are complicated, that I was finding them out in real-time myself, and I don’t have all the answers and still do not have all the answers to this day."
Tom, for his part, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and eventually placed under conservatorship as a result of his legal problems. In July 2021, the former attorney's brother, Robert Girardi, was appointed as the effective conservator of his person and estate.
Erika brought out about having her personal difficulties discussed front and center on 'RHOBH' in May 2022. "I am the face of this instead of the lawyers that worked at the firm and referring attorneys and, you know, law funding people — instead they point to me," she told Us Weekly exclusively about the trial process. "For my mental health, it’s been hard. No doubt. But again, I couldn’t lose, and I was just going to fight it out every way possible, and still am."
The 'XXPEN$IVE' performer admitted that she struggled to deal with the issues on her own. "The season before was a real fallout. This season is about really trying to pull yourself together and go on. It was tough but ultimately, I’ll get there, and it’s part of the human experience," she remarked, adding that she "mixed alcohol and antidepressants" as the cameras were filming. "You can’t go through what I have gone through the previous season and not feel something. I wanted to have some fun, and I wanted to not feel so heavy. So that’s what I did."
A rundown on Erika's lawsuits
Erika and Tom were sued by class action company Edelson PC during their divorce. According to court documents, the former couple was accused of stealing settlement payments meant to assist the relatives of Lion Air Flight 610 victims. In 2018, 189 people were killed in an aircraft crash. The divorce was a "sham attempt to fraudulently protect" the couple's assets, according to the firm, and Tom and Erika were "on the verge of financial collapse and locked in a downward spiral of mounting debts and dwindling funds." The reality star's fraud case against her estranged spouse was dropped in January 2022.
Erika was sued for $25 million in August 2021 by the trustee supervising Girardi Keese's bankruptcy case. The trustee accused Erika of knowing that the business paid her expenditures for at least 12 years, according to the legal documents. The lawsuit also claimed that Erika should be held personally liable for the payments, despite the fact that they supposedly went to her firm, EJ Global LLC. "She attempts to create a distinction between handling her money directly versus paying all of her bills directly," according to the records. "The distinction, like her prior motion for reconsideration, is meritless. Any payments made for her benefit are her responsibility."
Erika was involved in commercial deals done by Girardi & Keese, according to the $2.1 million lawsuit filed in February 2022, and she was aware of her opulent lifestyle being supported unlawfully. Erika was sued in the complaint by attorneys Manuel H Miller and Kathleen Bajgrowicz for allegedly assisting and abetting the violation of fiduciary duty and financial elder abuse.
Erika and Tom were charged with racketeering, conspiracy to conduct racketeering, receipt of stolen goods, aiding and abetting concealment of stolen property, money had and received, conversion, unlawful business practice, consumers legal remedies act, and deception in April 2022. The business was seeking no less than $55 million in damages at the time.
In subsequent court documents filed in July 2022, Edelson PC claimed that the Broadway veteran had "specific knowledge" of Tom's alleged wrongdoings. Erika was charged with racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, deception, aiding and abetting concealment of stolen goods, and other offenses.
Christina Fulton sued the Bravo celebrity in July 2022 for alleged fraud and theft. Fulton claimed in her lawsuit at the time that Erika utilized $924,300 from her settlement amount to finance her lifestyle. Nicolas Cage's ex-girlfriend, who was seeking $750,000 in damages, claimed the money was redirected to the 'Pretty Mess' author through her EJ Global business.
The 'Painkiller' performer was served with a $50 million lawsuit while returning to Los Angeles from a holiday in Hawaii in August 2022. Erika was in the baggage claim area with her 'RHOBH' co-stars Diana Jenkins and Lisa Rinna when she was approached by a woman who handed her a bundle of papers and stated, "I just wanted to give you these documents. This is a summons and complaint to serve you." According to records retrieved, the complaint in issue was brought by Edelson PC and featured nine charges: racketeering, conspiracy to conduct racketeering, and improper business practice and deception. According to the legal documents, the Georgia native's EJ Global firm "was created for the purpose of funneling money from Girardi Keese to benefit Erika." After being served, the California resident and her legal team were given a 21-day extension in early August 2022, giving them time to "answer, move or otherwise respond to the Complaint."
Erika won a crucial court win in the $5 million fraud case filed by two of her estranged husband's attorneys, Philip R Sheldon and Robert P Finn, at the end of August. Los Angeles judge Richard Fruin determined that there was "no evidence" that the 'RHOBH star' participated in "any wrongdoing," according to legal records.
Erika Jayne may have won a significant legal victory earlier in September. But according to Ronald Richards, an attorney, the 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' cast member shouldn't get thrilled just yet. As a bombshell lawsuit against Thomas Girardi was filed, accusing the once-famous attorney of owing a whopping $495 million to victims, lenders, and others, Ronald rushed to Twitter, claiming Erika's victory may be nothing more than a publicity ploy and offering a glance at her case list.
"Current Erika Girardi case list. Remember, just because someone pays a PR company to spit out stories doesn’t make the claim accurate. Here are the real cases with real case numbers. Any ruling in any of these cases is not binding on any other case as an FYI," he tweeted on September 1, accompanied by a chart showing Erika's several claims, one of which is a $25 million lawsuit and another for $1.5 million.
Current Erika Girardi case list. Remember, just because someone pays a PR company to spit out stories doesn't make the claim accurate. Here are the real cases with real case numbers. Any ruling in any of these cases is not binding on any other case as an FYI. pic.twitter.com/vnzc1OcRJo
— Ronald Richards (@RonaldRichards) September 1, 2022
Earlier this month, Erika Jayne seemed to announce that both she and Lisa Rinna had been cast in the forthcoming 13th season of 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.'