Two sides to every story. Erika Jayne has been candid about her highs and lows with estranged husband Tom Girardi amid their ongoing legal battles.
The pair were married for 20 years before Erika filed for divorce in November 2020. Ahead of their split, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star frequently defended the duo’s 32-year age difference.
“It was always a bigger deal to everyone else than it was to either of us. All a couple really needs is to have the same life philosophy. If you see things the same way, then age, race, religion—none of that comes into play,” she wrote in 2018’s Pretty Mess. “I have a thirst for knowledge and Tom has a wealth of it. He is a great mentor, a great teacher and somebody I really admire … That kind of stuff is a powerful aphrodisiac.”
When Us Weekly confirmed the reality star filed for divorce, she noted in a statement that she will always “have great love and respect for Tom and for our years and the lives we built together.” Though she asked to be shown “respect” and “privacy” amid her breakup, Erika and Tom soon found themselves at the center of a highly publicized legal scandal when they were accused of stealing settlement funds intended for the families of victims killed in a 2018 plane crash.
Throughout season 11 of RHOBH, Erika was often pressed about whether she thought Tom was guilty of misusing money — but she continued to maintain her own innocence. “This is not who I am,” she claimed during the season 11 reunion special, which aired in four parts in late 2021. “And I hope this is not who he is. … I hope that he has not done what is alleged here.”
As the investigation continued, Erika asserted that she wanted to protect herself. “At this point, quite honestly, I have to worry about myself. Whatever Tom Girardi did or did not do, that’s on him,” she said during the reunion. “His life is over. He’s in his 80s, he’s in a memory care facility, his career is over and done.”
Tom was stripped of his license to practice law amid his battle with Alzheimer’s and dementia, later being placed in a conservatorship under the care of his brother Rob Girardi. “There was no talking to [Tom], trying to get him to answer my questions, being shut out completely — anger, personality changes, and you can see now, look, the man is in a home, he’s in a memory care facility,” the Georgia native told Andy Cohen in the October 2021 episode. “We’ve seen how disheveled and how absolutely horribly he has deteriorated since I left. … I am not at liberty to say what — and at what time — I sought legal counsel. … [But] I did nothing wrong.”
The following June, Erika told Bravo cameras that she wasn’t interested in speeding up the divorce process. “It’s ironic, but if I was divorced from Tom, I’d have to pay him alimony,” she said. “I’ll stay married, thanks. … It’s a weird time and I’m really ready for it to be over.”
Scroll down to see Erika’s most telling quotes about where she stands with Tom amid their divorce: