Erika Jayne and her legal issues took main stage last season on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. This season, it looks like we are going to get more of the same. In the season 12 trailer, Erika proclaimed, “I don’t give a f–k about anybody else but me.” Which is what she yelled when fighting about the victims of her husband’s alleged misdeeds. Not the best look. Now she’s elaborating on what got her to that place to begin with.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Erika stated, “I do care. But here’s what: I also wanted to have a good time. I’ve been under what feels like a lot of pressure to me for a very long time. And I wanted to enjoy myself and have a few drinks and have a few laughs. And of course, here comes the judgment. So, it’s fine.”
She went on to share, “Look, these last, almost over a year and a half, have been really turbulent for me. And so I have just worked very hard to continue to tell my story, my truth, and basically shout it from the rooftops. And it felt like a lot of times I haven’t been heard, or didn’t want to be heard. And I think that that’s what you’ll see this season.” It certainly doesn’t seem like Erika will be sharing much. She told castmate Garcelle Beauvais that everything against her has been disproven in the season premiere. And then griped to production in a confessional to go do their due diligence on her state of affairs. Couldn’t she just clear it up herself right then and there? Apparently not.
Erika has faced lawsuit after lawsuit thanks to her estranged husband, Tom Girardi. He was once a highly respected (and highly paid) lawyer in California. Now Tom stands accused of bilking millions in settlement money from the victims he was representing. And as his wife, Erika allegedly “knew about Tom’s fraud and directly benefited from it.” Tom’s firm went bankrupt and he’s now living in senior facility under a conservatorship.
She claims that last season, she wasn’t in a place to share much of anything. Erika recalled, “My hands were really tied, and I said all that I could. Remember that there were many cases being filed against me at that time. So less said is best said in those situations.” She added, “I also think that people misunderstand my concern and my compassion for those who have been wronged, and they will be taken care of. Of course I want to see that. I also feel that people need to understand that this is, again a really complex situation. I’ve walked right up to the line as to what I can and cannot say.”
While Erika and Tom are still legally married, the two are estranged while their divorce is pending. Which isn’t something Erika considers a priority. She admitted, “The divorce is kind of on the very bottom of my list of important things that are legal issues.”
Erika went on to maintain, “[I wish the women understood] the complexity of this situation. That it’s not going to be wrapped up in two seconds, that it’s going to take a long time. I don’t think anyone on this cast understands how many layers there are to a law firm, to a marriage, to partnerships, to things like that. That perhaps the people are not looking in the right place. They need to look at those who actually worked there. I am not a lawyer. And that’s where the attention needs to be.” She mentions again that she’s in a “complex situation.” And that “it requires a little bit more patience than just calling it out, ‘I don’t like her, so therefore these bad things must be true.’”
As far as how she’s perceived on the show, Erika doesn’t think she’s not a “full super villain.” She concluded, “I’m leaning into myself. I’m leaning into full protecting Erika mode, full taking care of Erika. Who else is going to do this if I don’t? And if that ruffles a few feathers, if that looks unladylike, if that offends your, I don’t know, manners, then so be it. No one’s living this life but me. No one is coming to help me but me. So if I have to roll up my sleeves and get a little dirty, you can trust and believe I’m going to do that.”
TELL US – DO YOU THINK ERIKA WILL SHARE MORE THIS SEASON? DO YOU THINK SHE ACTUALLY DOES CARE? WILL THE WOMEN ASK MORE QUESTIONS THIS TIME AROUND? WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE PREMIERE EPISODE?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]