Erika Girardi’s over-the-top spending habits; her rags-to-riches story about going from a dancer at a New Jersey strip club to marrying a much-older multimillionaire lawyer in Los Angeles; and most important, how Tom Girardi’s questionable legal practices have put her in legal and financial jeopardy, are all rehashed here in what amounts to a clip job, with few new insights provided.
But after it gets going, the program, executive produced by ABC News’ Steven Baker, offers a poignant and powerful recap of allegations against Tom Girardi and the implosion of his law firm Girardi Keese, which was forced into bankruptcy proceedings in January.
According to “Housewife and the Hustler,” Girardi Keese was known for its lavish Christmas parties and a swanky annual conference in Las Vegas.
But when Erika joined “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” in 2015, some people in the Los Angeles legal community cringed at what they saw.
Joe Ruigomez, then 19, was watching a football game with his girlfriend when it happened, and barely got out alive — his girlfriend was later found dead.
So the Ruigomezes ended up winning a lawsuit against Tom, and he agreed to pay them $12 million in installments, but stopped after the first payment of $1 million.
This is all unfolding in the courts, but some of it will also play out in this season of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” which is just getting to the Girardis’ divorce — and its cause — beginning in this week’s episode.
“If you were to ask me in 2019 who would come out paying who in this divorce, I’d probably say that Erika would be getting a lot of money from Tom,” says Brandon Lowrey, a reporter at Law360, over images of Erika’s ornate jewelry.