The curtain fell in November.
After 21 years together and a 32-year age difference, this former go-go dancer andreal housewife-became a middle-aged pop star and a titan of American jurisprudence (one who once representedErin Brockovich) term.
Real housewives (barely) survive quarantine: "I haven't eaten a heavy meal in 10 days"
fans ofBeverly Hills Casa Real Donutsmeet the people involved and the wealth at stake: Erika Jayne is filing for divorce from Tom Girardi, 81, after bragging about her two planes on the show, a $40,000 glam outfit that she preferred (she even flew them) .dubaiwith her) and a knot of connections so deep that even Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beckappeared on screen once in the Bravo series, approached the couple during lunch at a restaurant as they continued to talk.
In December, the Tom and Erika saga hit an even deeper low point: the man who once fought drug companies and polluters and was so socially strong that he and his wife even organized a fundraiser for Joe Biden. at Private Jonathan in downtown Los Angeles. The Club in 2019 was hit with a lawsuit alleging that it itself embezzled funds intended for the families of the 189 victims.Lion Air Flight 610 from Indonesia.
One man at the center of this, who has become the main translator of this multifaceted scandal, is a no-nonsense Beverly Hills lawyer named Ronald Richards, who only uses the teeth of his Twitter account.
Eliminate legal jargon and keep people updated in real time during hearings and case development. It also builds up a fan base that can resemble sports fans in their passion.
The saga just keeps getting tastier. Girardi's former business partner also filed a lawsuit against him when he dissolved their joint venture, as his venerable law firm virtually went bankrupt. Wells Fargo Financial Services filed a lawsuit alleging breach of contract and multiple involuntary bankruptcy filings. Meanwhile, as Girardi acknowledged in his statement, "At one point I had about 80 million or 50 million in cash. It's all over. I don't have cash."
We've combined the underworld of the law with a ravenous crowd of bravoholics who know full well that one of Erika's songs is aES'it is expensive for me, and have a complete memory of eachDeath becomes herLook what's already been donned—in other words, an irresistible cocktail of money, power, and reality TV—history has shown no signs of slowing down since.
At one point, Tom claims to have dementia and undisclosed medical problems, as his dentist brother is named his restorer as a defaulter after an attempted default in court. Another Erika is moving out of her $16 million Pasadena home to a smaller property like hers in Pasadena.then it was said that it was raided, and Tom himself is facing eviction.
Georgia-born Erika, who starred on Broadway before the pandemic (in which she played the notorious outlaw Roxie Hartchicago!) and now potentially facing real-life legal risk for investing $20 million in his entertainment company and because they filed taxes together, he has increasingly fueled speculation by doing things like posting and deleting."Receipts" from an old casebetween Tom and a judge (yes, really!).
Plus, there's her Instagram account, which has a yo-yo that alternates between grabbing KFC at one point and giving her her best lingerie thirst trap (This one, taunts us with the caption "Ready, Steady, TROLL").
Additionally, pop culture parallels were quickly employed as the story progressed. Somepointedhow the whimsical plane crash element of the story surprisingly mirrors core story elements from previous ABC echoesRake. Others compared the bow of riches to ragsArroyo Schotts—especially considering the extent to which the Girardis are liquidating and downsizing in light of the eviction news.
"Wait a minute, I'm filling up a propane tank," Richards told me in a distant hum when I got him on the phone to talk to him because I wanted to know more.
While others are reluctant to speak out for fear of falling into the trap of those more familiar with the mechanics of the law, Richards, a former legal analyst for NBC during the Michael Jackson trial, is anything but. processed. I amNoworried."
Ronald displayed some of the swagger that has become a staple of his tweets, then told me, "I'm like Liam Neeson inExhausted. I have special abilities. Meaning: You not only know how to access information, but also how to interpret details.
Do you know the defendant or have you faced him in court? No, Richards said, "but everyone in California knows who Tom Girardi is in the legal world."
Have you heard his incessant comments lately about the case of someone from the Girardi camp? Not again". (Neither Tom nor Erika Jayne responded to requests from the Daily Beast when asked about their comments about Richards.)
The lawyer, who grew up in the heart of Beverly Hills, also has a certain talent for the particular psychodynamics of this case, particularly with his tangential connection to the housewives of 90210 (although the Girardis never lived in Beverly Hills). He even attended Beverly Hills High School at the same time as famous alumni like Nicolas Cage and Kiefer Sutherland.
His father was a famous musician, pianist and accordionist, in demand at many first-class parties. His stepfather was a lawyer, from whom he apparently inherited the disease. Richards spent time on the East Coast in high school (with, he says, the son of James Baker, a former White House chief of staff and Reagan-era Treasury secretary), and then attended UCLA. He later received a law degree from the University La Verne School of Law.
Since then, his good works include serving as a law professor at the San Fernando Valley College of Law, serving as an interim judge in the Los Angeles Superior Court, and being the first attorney appointed under California's Proposition 215. the Medical Marijuana Law. He is a member of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, the Bar Association of the Eastern District of Michigan, and the Bar Association of the Supreme Court of the United States, among others.
On a personal level, though, Richards has an interesting six degrees with Trumpworld: His ex-wife (from 2006 to 2009) was actress Louise Linton, who is now married to former US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
Linton, you must remember, pierced the public imagination in 2017 when she posted a photo on Instagram with a plethora of non-musical hashtags (#tomfordsunnies, #hermesscarf, #valentinorockstudheels) and then caused even more outrage when she was photographed at a ceremony wearing long leather opera gloves in the usa mint she was latelyNo newsabout the release of a ridiculous movie he made.
Notably, it's also not Richard's first shoulder jab into the world of Andy Cohen. A decade ago, he played former RHOBH cast member Taylor Armstrong's husband, Russell Armstrong, who committed suicide between seasons 2 and 3 of the series.
Richards' approach now? A lot in Girardis.
Taken to a new place with Doom rolling and often using the hashtag #GirardiFraud, his tweets in recent weeks have taken on everything from chasing the money,to some mysterious transactions in City National, Forgive updatesNoasset countal stand de Tom's Mercedes Benz S560intellectual competence claims, nature ofyour conservatory, it is includedThe newest oneat Erika's new digs.
It all matches many other emerging details about Tom going back decades, as outlined in a recent detailed article.legal publicationlei 360. Yet it is the octogenarian right-wing eagle who is clearly at the center of this saga, described by Kimberly Archie, a consumer safety advocate who was his former protégé, as a story where "the shining armor of the knight really comes through." . friend” – Erika inevitably also drew a lot of attention. She is filming the next season of RHOBH as this off-screen drama unfolds.
While only Erika can tell us what she knew, Richards is impressed that she "didn't do anything to help the trustees locate these assets (in the bankruptcy case)... She could be very helpful." Why isn't she cooperating with the United States Receiver?
Instead, he posts selfies (which certainly could be for some brand endorsements; he needs to cash in), but that doesn't make him any less visually savvy. "She showed no remorse for the sacrifices," Richards added.
It is a perspective that took the jurist to an unexpected place: right in the middle of the psychodrama with thedonuts from home. She even got sucked into one.page sixstory when one of the other women, Dorit Kemsley, defended Erika (all innocent before proven guilty), and she showed upcall richardsbecause of "bullying".
Richards calls it justice. Of Tom and Erika's highly praised statement that they don't have a prenup (she said a lot on the show) and what that could mean for her legal risk, she said, "It puts all of Erika's assets into foreclosure." by creditors. and is part of the property.
He paused, adding: "The irony here is that she might have to pay him child support.ellaIt's just somebody making money."
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