Erika Jayne spoke about her ongoing legal drama during a show appearance on Friday.
Amid production on the upcoming 12th season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Erika admitted that the past year and a half, which was included a slew of lawsuits being filed against her and her estranged husband, Thomas Girardi, has been the “darkest part” of her life.
“This has been the darkest part of my life,” Erika told E! News’ Daily Pop on February 11. “Just the most desperate, most afraid I’ve ever been in my life. Most unsure, most volatile. I’ve been angry, I’ve been sad, I’ve been happy, I’ve been everything. And it’s really challenged me to my core.”
Since late 2020, Erika has been accused of teaming up with Thomas and embezzling millions from his former clients, including widows and orphans of victims of a 2018 plane crash in Indonesia. And while Erika was recently dismissed from that particular case in Chicago, Edelson PC, the class action law firm who filed the claims, confirmed plans to refile their case against Erika in California in January.
Erika was also tied to an $11 million case filed by a burn victim and his family, who were reportedly stiffed settlement funds from Thomas and his since-defunct law firm, Girardi Keese.
“You know, when they can’t get to that man, then they turn to his partner. And that’s what I think has happened,” Erika explained of the claims against her.
According to Erika, she believes she’s been unfairly spotlighted.
“I think that I have taken a lot of the attention that should be for other people. Other people, not just person, people. I’ve been the whipping girl for a lot of people and I’ve taken the beating in the public when others should be,” she noted.
Erika then admitted that she also feels her role on RHOBH has fueled the drama she’s currently facing.
“I think it would be a bad legal story and I think it would have gone away,” she shared. “I do think that because I am on a reality TV show, it is magnified. I think that because of what I’ve done professionally, it is magnified.”
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 12 is expected to begin airing on Bravo this spring or summer.
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