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The L.A. Times writers responsible for the article making waves on recent episodes of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills are speaking out about the series’ 11th season.
As Erika Jayne‘s cast mates become more and more curious about what she knew regarding her estranged husband Thomas Girardi‘s alleged crimes against former clients, Matt Hamilton and Harriet Ryan appeared on a podcast, where they reacted to the events of recent episodes and revealed new details regarding the timeline of the former couple’s downfall.
While appearing on the August 18 episode of the Reality Life With Kate Casey podcast, Matt was asked about the way in which the RHOBH cast has attempted to navigate through the complicated legal mess Erika is facing.
“I’ve been curious about that question myself because we had been reaching out to people over the course of our reporting and the run-up to that article,” Matt revealed.
According to Matt, he believes Erika likely knew about his and Harriet’s article before it was published because the two of them had been contacting and asking questions to people close to her and actually reached out to the reality star herself, via her rep.
“Questions went to her representative in advance of publication so I’ve been curious about that,” he admitted.
As for the timeline of events depicted on the show, Matt said the ladies of the series seemed to be reacting to their article just as it hit the web in December 2020, although he can’t be completely sure.
“The ladies of the show are seen waking up and expressing shock and Erika’s already left by then, which does align with my recollection of the timeline from that December 15th to 17th period,” he explained. “I remember [Crystal Kung-Minkoff] saying something about how, it’s the L.A. Times… So it seemed to be in alignment and consistent with our big ‘Legal Titan and Real Housewife’ article really serving as a pivotal change.”
In addition to learning new information nearly every week, the RHOBH cast has also recently been told that Thomas continued to call Erika, even after she filed for divorce.
Although Matt said he wasn’t surprised to hear that Thomas was still calling Erika, he was taken aback by Erika’s reaction to Garcelle Beauvais when she repeated the news to their co-stars, as well as her revelation regarding her lack of a debit card.
Moving on to the topic of Erika and Thomas’ divorce, Harriet pointed out that Erika filed just a short time after learning Thomas had run out of money.
“Last October, Erika received a subpoena to come down to the courthouse and answer questions about her husbands’ assets because a former client of his had gotten far enough along in suing him,” Harriet revealed. “She has a date she’s supposed to appear and it just emerged in the last couple of months the reason she never appeared, and that that hearing was canceled, was because she told them [RHOBH] had started filming and she couldn’t make it.”
Because Erika had spoken so highly about Thomas, even in the months leading up to her filing, many were caught off-guard and others accused the couple of a “sham.”
As for Matt, he wonders if there’s more to the story.
“Even within the season, there’s been a complete 180. They were reconnecting during the pandemic and now he’s having affairs and being somewhat, I mean, the suggestion is verbally abusive, controlling, I don’t know if anyone’s used the word ‘abuse.’ But they keep going back to the clip of Tom snapping at that dinner party. I wonder if there’s other footage that hasn’t been [revealed] to viewers,” he noted.
Also on the podcast, Matt admitted it was actually Erika’s divorce filing that led him to take a deeper look at Thomas.
“There have been allegations of wrongdoing by Girardi Keese, by Tom Girardi, dating back decades… We’re talking dozens of lawsuits that alleged financial improprieties, legal malpractice, and other questionable practices in the practice of law. They were occasionally reported on by the legal press and local outlets but never really penetrated the mainstream [media], nor had anyone really put it all together,” he shared.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 11 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.