Getty Images Erika Jayne may not have been completely in the dark, RHOC star suggests.
Erika Jayne has been under a microscope since her ex-husband Tom Girardi was accused of embezzlement. The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star has also been named in a few lawsuits, and there have even been claims that Girardi funneled money into his now-ex-wife’s LLC, according to Us Weekly.
Erika has maintained that she didn’t have any knowledge of her husband’s alleged wrongdoings and she has said that she never received a large some of money via her LLC.
“There was never twenty or whatever million dollars in my LLC. I never had it. It was never in my hands. It was never in my account,” she said during an episode of RHOBH season 12.
Fans have gone back-and-forth on whether or not Erika may have had any knowledge of what happened with her then-husband’s business, but there’s one person who thinks that Erika knows more than she says — and that’s former “Real Housewives of Orange County” star Kelly Dodd.
Here’s what you need to know:
Dodd Said That Erika Isn’t ‘Stupid’
In an interview on the “Up and Adam” show, Dodd and her husband Rick Leventhal talked to host Adam Newell about Erika during a brief period toward the end of their chat. Both Dodd and Leventhal discussed Bravo’s decision to keep “controversial figures” on the show before getting into their opinions of Erika.
“When it comes to Erika Girardi on ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,’ do you think she had any idea of what her husband was doing?” host Adam Newell asked Dodd.
“She’s not dumb. I think she knew,” Dodd said. “I just don’t think she paid attention to it. I think she knew that they set up this company and all this money was funneling. I mean… I mean, she’s not an idiot. Like, she’s not stupid,” Dodd said.
Her husband had a bit of a different take.
“I don’t necessarily believe she knew or wanted to know where the money was coming from. All she cared about was that she was getting the money. I don’t know that she knew the minutiae of the inner-workings of Girardi-Keese and she knew that he was diverting funds — allegedly — from accident victims and spending it on his wife — and I don’t think she wanted to know,” Leventhal said.
Erika’s Lawyer Is Confident That She’s Innocent
Beyond Dodd and Levethal’s take, Erika’s lawyer has maintained that his client is innocent and that she had no knowledge of what was going on at Girardi’s law firm.
“I can’t say enough that based on the evidence and law, Erika does not have liability for any of the claims against her. All the claims against Erika amount to efforts to blame her for the actions of others, including Girardi Keese and Tom Girardi,” attorney Evan C. Borges said in a statement, according to Us Weekly.
In recent weeks, a few Erika has been on a bit of a winning streak when it comes to various lawsuits brought against her — including a $5 million aiding and abetting lawsuit in which a judge ruled that there wasn’t any evidence to suggest that Erika was guilty of any crime, Erika’s rep Jack Ketsoyan told Heavy in a statement in August 2022.
“We expect that other ‘aiding and abetting lawsuits against Erika, which accuse her of participating in some sort of ‘fraud, will fail for the same reason – they are contrary to the truth and based on no real evidence,” Borges said in a statement of his own.
READ NEXT: Kyle Richards Displays Cryptic Social Media Behavior After Aspen Episode