Erika Jayne answered questions about Bethenny Frankel‘s claims of having heard about Thomas Girardi owing people millions while appearing on Wednesday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live.
Following the latest episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which featured a messy spat between Lisa Rinna and Sutton Stracke, Erika reacted to the Real Housewives of New York City alum’s allegations before shading Lisa Vanderpump over her “scratch and sniff” diss and revealing how she feels about being compared to Real Housewives of Salt Lake City‘s Jen Shah.
“In the business that Tom was doing, which was contingent fee, it’s not unusual to borrow. So while that may be true, there were also loans that were really paid off,” Erika explained on the May 18 episode of the WWHL: After Show. “So I don’t know where Bethenny’s coming from.”
On Bethenny’s podcast, the former RHONY cast member said that in addition to hearing rumors about the people Thomas reportedly owed, her own late fiancé, Dennis Shields, was supposedly owed $500,000 from the since-disbarred attorney.
“Her guy’s dead and my guy’s in a home. So whatever. But at the same time, that’s kind of the way the business goes,” Erika continued.
Then, during the live broadcast of WWHL, Erika was asked if there were any Real Housewives she’d like to tell, ‘Go f-ck yourself,” and she didn’t hesitate to name Lisa.
“I don’t think Lisa Vanderpump should’ve jumped in the other day with the ’scratch and sniff’ comment so go f-ck yourself,” she told her ex-castmate. “It was in response to the video of [Garcelle Beauvais‘] book in the trash. She said, ‘Well maybe Erika needed a scratch and sniff book,’ And I said, ‘That’s rich coming from you.’ Because of her breath.”
Because both she and Jen are caught up in the midst of legal battles, Erika often draws comparisons to her (including comparisons between the way Andy questioned them at their respective reunions). But as she explained to host Andy Cohen, their cases are very different.
“I don’t know all the specifics about her case, so I don’t want to pretend to know. I do know that she was charged and she’s in federal court. I’m not. I’m in civil court. It’s completely two different things,” she stated. “I didn’t watch [RHOSLC]. I’ve never watched the show and I did not watch the reunion. I just know that what’s before me… I can’t quite tell.”
As a number of cases against her move forward, Erika confirmed she’s no longer in touch with anyone from Thomas’ defunct law firm, Girardi Keese.
“Do you think they would call me? They’re hiding in the shadows. Why would they come out?” she asked. “[They weren’t] real friends but they were people I knew since I was 27 years old. I’m f-cking 50. Not a soul [reached out].”
While Erika filed for divorce from Thomas in November 2020, she said on Wednesday’s show that her divorce was “at the bottom of the list of things of importance.”
Also on the show, Erika confirmed she “posted it” and she “meant it” when asked about throwing away Garcelle’s book. She also admitted she was happy to get vindication upon the news of the recent hail in Pasadena, California, and she reacted to Sutton’s comments about her only dating men with a lot of money.
“If I wanted that I could’ve had that the day I left, before I left. That’s not a problem for me. It’s just not,” Erika noted. “[But] I want some good d-ck and some good conversation. I’m really into finding my own self these days. If I wanted that I could’ve had it. I’ve been offered many times and the answer is I just need to work on me.”
As for why she forgave Mauricio Umansky and Paul “PK” Kemsley so quickly after they poked fun at her stories surrounding Thomas and their legal drama but held her ground with Sutton, Erika explained, “I don’t know them.”
“I don’t see Mauricio and PK as much as I see Sutton. They were in and out. Every day with Sutton it was the pounding. It’s completely different,” she added.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 12 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.
