CHECK OUT THE LATEST UPDATES IN COMMENTS! I JUST ADDED NEW INFORMATION. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY UPDATES!
As you guys know I don’t do streaming (except for Big Brother live feeds…I can’t wait!) and I don’t have Hulu. I had a volunteer to recap this show but unfortunately, she had a family emergency at the last minute. So I thought that maybe this could be sort of like a reverse recap where y’all give me a report on the show in comments. Has anyone watched it yet? I’m dying for all the details and your opinions. Who’s in? I shall be impatiently awaiting your tea! 🙂
Saw it this morning and found it extremely interesting, I’ll have to come back after work to write more..
Hearing all the stuff. Thats crazy. I went to Twitter and some people were laughing about how they played Karma Chameleon in the documentary and how that means Boy George and PK had to have signed off on approval which I find a bit of a cherry on top especially after that whole Pantygate and Dorit and her getting qlong
PK is his manager but I doubt he owns the rights to his music. Likely the record company does who originally produced the record.
Either way I find it hilarious lol
When is it on in the UK. Can’t wait
I just can’t believe that they opened with Danielle staub…. Just wow. Insanely interesting. I’m enjoying the angle of a mother’s love will get you.
Yes the resilence of the mothers was amazing. Dana and Danielle, those were interesting choices.
Initially, their positioning of Danielle irritated the spots off of me. But then it made a tad bit more sense when she revealed Erika and she had worked at the same strip club. Though, I think it was at different times? Actually, it’s still really irritating. Because criminals. Allegedly.
They should have had Heather or the fancy lawyers open. At least they came off to me as somewhat of pros at giving professional but engaging interviews. Plus there’s the fact that they’re SEVERAL THOUSAND notches above Danielle on the scale of dirty dealings.
yessss!!! same thing. added unnecessary sleaze.
I have been trying to see if someone would loan me their Hulu login but unfortunately I have been unsuccessful.
You can sign up for 7 days free. Watch, then cancel before you’re charged.
I found it to be an excellent documentary. Because it was produced by the ABC news division and not an “entertainment”, it focused on the facts and very much on the victims of his thievery.
It laid out what is in the documents filed including the referral by the Federal District Judge to the Justice Department because of the probable crimes.
The interviews with the guy who was burned horrendously by the PG&E pipe malfunction was especially heart breaking in terms of exactly how Girardi inveigled and tricked the family. Whether they will actually be able to collect on the $12 million judgment when all of the bankruptcy stuff unfolds remains to be seen. They also did a segment on the Indonesian victims and how he also cheated the widows and orphans.
I actually thought Danielle Staub was an interesting interview. She had stripped with Erika back in New Jersey. She is also a narcissistic bitch and recognized a fellow one in Erika and so she both admired and dissed her.
The interviews with various people were, I thought, quite interesting. If you didn’t know anything about how attorneys trust accounts are supposed to operate, it explained exactly how his Ponzi scheme violated the most basic legal ethics – grounds for disbarment and criminal charges of embezzlement.
My personal reaction was even though I knew all about what had been happening, it truly made me realize exactly how sociopathic Erika and Tom were. I am fairly cynical in terms of not expecting much from most of my fellow humans but I just can’t wrap my mind about how she (and he) were so wrapped up in the excesses of superficial wealth and the lengths they were willing to go. I mean he could have had a lifestyle that would have been envious to almost anyone without preying on the weak and helpless. What is the mind set so that having that kind of excessive clothing and grooming budget becomes so paramount to one’s existence – and for what – to be photographed and “admired” for one’s style by anonymous people.
Thank you Amarante ! Up until this comment it was just a whole lot of FOMO for me. 🙂
I’m watching now. I think the man from the Bar Assoc. is interesting. He was talking about Tom doing the RHOBH show and Erika on there bragging about the small & large private jets. He was saying lots of attorneys have private planes, but you don’t boast publicly. You want to be viewed as an ally to the victims, not viewed by victims as being remotely like the big companies, such as the gas company responsible for the horrific explosion, who are responsible for the injuries/deaths of victims.
I’m not finished watching, but it is just amazing and horrible that Tom got away with so much for so long.
The whole issue of the optics was fascinating to me.
The whole vulgar lifestyle that was being prominently displayed.
It is astounding that even someone as shrewd as Girardi didn’t realize that having Erika display the excessive display of wealth might not be a wise move. Did he think he would die before the whole edifice crumbled?
And I come back to wondering the level of sociopathy that they had so that they could somehow justify stealing from the powerless to buy stuff that was so excessive that it went beyond any level of what a normal person would find enjoyable. It fed into the darkest corrupted portions of both their souls.
I don’t get the mindset either. I give back all the time. I have been on the receiving end of financial kindness and every damn time I pay it forward to someone. In way smaller ways, but I do it. I contribute to charities. I help out people in the neighborhood. I tried and failed with Lawn Kid but you guys sent so much stuff that I gave out some of the food cards to others in my neighborhood. Specifically a grandma stuck with a bunch of kids that were basically dropped off for her to deal with. I’m not sure what happened to them but I think they had to move. I feel like if everyone would just pay it forward when they receive a blessing the world would be such a better place. I probably brag a bit too much when I get a fancy meat box. But I also pass it on to others. Maybe it is gift cards to Chik-Fil-A or even sending some of you porkchops. LOL. I’m a big fan of the incredibly expensive pork chops.
I am SO INCREDIBLY blessed by you guys. It’s just not a monetary Pay It Forward. I’m not always the easiest person to like but y’all still stick with my cranky ass. And I try to pass that along as well. Exhibit A Lawn Kid. I was an utter and complete failure there though. Sigh.
But not to sound preachy… try to make a difference where you can. And thanks so much for making a difference in my life. So many of you haven’t been thanked enough for that.
Wow. That was smarmy. I should probably delete. I’m in my feelings because I am watching In Treatment on HBO and it’s making me all emo. Sorry.
It is so true though. We don’t have a lot but we are blessed. Instead of trying to sell baby stuff we grow out of I always try to find people who need it because it is the small things that count.
Not smarty at all! I am writing “pay it forward” on a sticky note and slapping on my computer to remind myself!!
I meant not Smarmy! Spellcheck woes!!
You kind of warmed my hear and made me proud to be your fan
Watching this show made me sick and also worried for the 900 other cases the firm had that got lost in the mess
Just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the family you’ve created here. We stand by you because we love you and you are family!!
You definitely do give back. YKWIM. And I think you are a big softie camouflaged as a bitchy woman. It’s perfectly ok to encourage others to give back. I have definitely paid it forward. xn
Wow, this is a great recap. I can’t even begin to image how many victims watched Tom on National tv and didn’t want to destroy their tv’s. He hurt so many innocent people.
I’m so out of the loop that I didn’t realize Danielle and Erica stripped together. Small, crazy world we live in.
TT, I’m with you, I refuse to pay more for tv than cable. I like the reverse recap idea. I get FOMO too.
Nailed it!
I’m so watching it today! Not only does it look like they’re serving absolute mess (Hi, Danielle! Hi, Dana/Pam!), but it sounds like they also have a lot of receipts. I haven’t binged a lot of Hulu up until now, so I’m diving right in with this one.
I shall anxiously await your full and detailed recap. This is NOT A SUGGESTION. 🙂
Well, then. Here we go!
– For all of us who’ve been keeping up with you here, reading the LA Times series, checking Ron Richards’ Twitter account, and watching Emily D. Baker’s videos, the content in this Hulu documentary isn’t too shocking. But for everyone else, there are a whole lot of shocking receipts throughout!
– Even for those of us who are more familiar with the Girardi scandal, the victim testimonies are truly heart-wrenching. As I watch them describe what they went through, and how much more pain and suffering Tom and Erika subjected them to, I don’t see how Tom and Erika recover their reputations or survive the civil suits.
– Tom’s Alzheimer’s/dementia defense only makes it worse for him IMHO. Either way, it’s bad. Either his office further defrauded clients by concealing his diagnosis until it was convenient for him to reveal it publicly, or he’s just daring the U.S. Attorneys’ Office to charge him (criminally) already. And if it’s the latter, the psychiatrist who provided the diagnosis is also legally liable.
– The ABC News team came with receipts, and Erika’s signature is on quite a few of those receipts. More specifically, Erika signed onto documents acknowledging Tom’s financial liability to the clients. There’s no way in hell she can credibly claim she didn’t know what he was doing. She’s in a shit-ton of trouble.
– On a lighter note, Danielle and Dana/Pam served some cold, hard revenge. To her credit, Dana provided some more receipts on the Girardi case. And when it comes to exposing the absolute fraud that is “The Real Housewives” franchise, Danielle has a knack for explaining why so many of them (ahem – herself included) are not really who they portray themselves on TV.
– I can hardly wait for your sources to spill some tea on how Comcast/Bravo is going to try to spin this shit. Of course, a Disney-owned entity would absolutely trash a Comcast-owned entity. But since the Disney-owned entity provided the receipts, it’s harder for the Comcast flacks to argue that this doc is just a hit job.
Everything you said is very true. I am still blown away that Erica has not made a general humble statement. Her silence is speaking alot of truth to me.
The one picture worth 1000 words (with a brief caption), the “so fresh, so clean” on her IG wearing all white couture shortly after this story broke … that spoke volumes.
Elizabeth Taylor was a very wealthy woman. Yes, she had her jewels, mostly gifts, but she gave and gave and gave to others. She presented a rich and glamorous image and lifestyle, but never rubbed anyone’s face in the Expen$ive to be me way. Hell, even her jewels over the time she had them, through amortization, cost less per month (and had lasting value) than the stupid glam that Erika BRAGGED about costing $40k a month. That always made me sick.
She is silent about this but her tweets lately have been disgusting. She is portraying herself as a victim and lashing out at anyone criticizing her for any reason and I cannot fathom it…I guess her PR person is gone too because she is digging herself deeper every tweet in the court of unpopular opinion and, frankly, giving the prosecutors more things to present in court…🤷♀️
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Random Bravo side note, I couldn’t help but laugh when they talked about the Christmas party in 2017 that the law firm had Leanne Rimes sing at, and my brain just think, “wasn’t she on the show at that time and imagine if Brandi was on and knew” ya know because her constant back and forth
Hell I would have recapped for you, TT. Just let me know anytime you need a pinch hitter and I’m in!
As the other commenters said, they focused on the victims and that was all the more heart breaking. I also recently left a career in a field where we knew a lot of insider info on the PGE stuff and it makes it all the more sickening. I don’t think he should have settled, let alone done it without the clients express approval. At least that’s what was Implied was that he (Tom) decided to settle and only later told the clients about it.
I also found it extremely odd that an adult man in his 60s or 70s (at the time he was leaving the clients those voice mails), that he kept saying “I don’t want you to be mad at me”. He sounded like a little boy. It was very strange and actually makes me believe it is more likely that he does have some mental illness. But I’m obviously not a doctor, just a great googler.
They didn’t focus on Erika much other than her obsession with stuff and excessive wasteful extravagances like having her makeup and hair done for a podcast, etc.
Thanks Amsie, I’m still looking for a full on recap here! My girl was very excited to recap for the site and was upset that she could not at the last minute. I need the blow by blow.
How much do you pay your recappers? I’d be interested!
LOL. guest recappers are volunteers. 🙂 Also, I bitch at them a lot about formatting. It’s totally thankless work.
No wonder she pulled out at the last minute, LOL!
Hey hey hey, I didn’t pull out! I had emailed it to TT and then she said paste it into comments and by then you all had done a great job and it felt redundant. Here is what. I had written…. its wordy. Apologies in advance.
This documentary was produced by ABC News, so I am hopeful it’ll be good. Also, this is my first time trying to do a recap – so please forgive me, I am no Tamara Tattles. This is hard (I watched it twice to do this)!
Also, these are all allegations, Tom and Erika have not been found guilty of anything, so I am just recapping what these people said, not stating it as fact. Hopefully that’ll cover TT and me.
It starts out with Danielle Staub who’s almost unrecognizable…. She mentions being on WWHL live with her and said how fake and bitchy Erika is.
They then run news clips and sound bites from GMA and other ABC news shows with all the allegations that they stole monies from victims to fund their lifestyle.
There were a lot of amazing people from the entertainment, news and legal professions so I’m going to try and list them all here as it’ll be hard to attribute throughout this. I was actually a bit shocked by the laundry list of people, I think it lends credibility to the story for sure.
Commentators and contributors included: Christopher Darden (of OJ Simpson fame), Danielle Staub (former RHoNJ), Dana (f/k/a Pam) Wilkey (remember her as miss $25K sunglasses from RHoBH), Heather McDonald (host of Juicy Scoop podcast), Sunny Hostin (ABC News Legal Contributor), Kim Archie (a former legal consultant who worked for Tom and best friend of the mother of one of the San Bruno explosion burn victims), Kelley Carter (Sr Entertainment reporter for The Undefeated), Matt Hamilton (an investigative reporter from the LA Times), Justin Kloczko (reporter for The Daily Journal and the Debaser), Chris Murphy (Vanity Fair), Neil Wertlieb (former Chairman, CA State Bar Ethics Committee), and Brandon Lowrey (Features reporter Law360. Hopefully that’s everyone.
They cover all the ways they were blowing money including the private jets and glam squads and one of Tom’s former consultants, a lady named Kim Archie said how Tom would comment about how expensive Erika was (as a wife). Cue playing “it’s expen$ive to be me”. Heather McDonald comments about how she thinks Erika’s attitude was “f it, I’m the third wife, I want to spend money” and so she did. Then Joe Ruigomez and Josie Hernandez two of the alleged victims come out about how they wondered when they saw all of this excessive and extravagant lifestyle being played out on TV, they wondered if that’s where their settlements went to.
There are clips of the video depositions from September of 2020 in here, and that’s where Tom admits he used to had $80M, of which $50M was in cash, and now he has nothing. They inserted some clips from RHoBH where Garcelle asks Erika if she knew what was going on…. That’s the scene in the mountains where Erika says “no” but nods “yes”.
They showed an interview from 2017 where Abbie Boudreau from ABC News interviews Erika about living a less extravagant lifestyle and she says she could for sure, but she wouldn’t like it. They show a tour she gave Abbie of the house including her closet full of designer duds. Tom says he doesn’t like having cameras in his house all the time and Erika is gratuitous in her sucking up to Tom during these clips about how she always needs him for advice, etc. and how he prefers to be in the courtroom. Then they show the clip of Tom giving Erika the Marc Chagall painting and talking about the two airplanes, Cartier rings, etc. Several people then comment that yes, some of these high-powered attorneys have incredible wealth but that its generally not flaunted, especially since you want to be seen as “sticking it to the man” not “being” the man. Doubly so since a lot of those funds come from severe illnesses, deaths, and other various horrible things that happened to people.
Heather McDonald talks about inviting Erika onto her podcast and how she rolled up with hair, makeup, and a wardrobe glam squad even though Heather had told her it was not being filmed, that it was audio only and how she (Heather) thought it was a waste of money.
Danielle Staub then offers her opinions on how she thought it was great that Erika presented such a positive sexual vibe but how in her opinion, she can’t sing. (Which seemed a little odd, because didn’t Danielle cut some records???). Then Dana Wilkey talks about how Erika and Tom were like the quintessential LA power couple. Chris Darden and all these other legal types talk about how Tom fought for the little guy and was kind of known for being the person you wanted fighting for you. Brian Kabateck is another attorney who said he always knew of Tom even when he first became an attorney, eventually I think they worked on a case/settlement together. They showed clips of Tom from 1996 when he worked on the Erin Brockovich case when PG&E was accused of poisoning the town of Hinkley, CA with chromium 6 in their water. PG&E settled the case for $333M but never admitted wrongdoing.
Dana then talks about Erika’s background of how as a little girl growing up in Georgia she always wanted to be famous and moved to New York to try and become a star. They mention her work at Shakers in Lodi, NJ (where Danielle also worked) and how its next door to Bada-Bing the club made famous in the Sopranos. And they mention her moving to L.A. and working as a waitress, meeting Tom and kind of getting married on the spur of the moment with NO PRENUP.
The LA Times reporter and Kim Archie the former consultant for Girardi Keese talk about the parties and how everything the firm did was just “extra” including staying at the Ritz Carlton and having LeeAnn Rimes perform at their holiday parties. How Tom hosted an annual conference in Las Vegas that included all of these big wigs in the legal profession including Erin Brockovich and various and sundry judges and high-powered attorneys. The gist of this was that *everyone* wanted to be on the guest list for these things and it was clear that Tom was running the show, that he could get judges to come over just by wagging his finger. Tom evidently would throw his weight around to help politicians elected and get judges put on the bench. They showed a clip of when Governor Newsom was on WWHL and mentioned how Tom was a huge donor for his campaign.
So, then they talk about the birth (creation?) of Erika Jayne, when Erika went to Tom and said she wants to be a singer/entertainer and asked him to bankroll it. Ironically (perhaps) they play more clips of “XXpen$ive” and “How May [email protected]”…. Per Dana, Erika Jayne was not making any money as an entertainer until she was cast on RHoBH. Dana talks about the pressure when you’re on RHoBH to show an extravagant lifestyle and even push things above your means and show an aspirational lifestyle. The Vanity Fair reporter then mentions the litany of “housewives” who go on the show and demonstrate their illegal activities and associated gains and subsequent jail time.
A huge section of the show was about the detailed medical issues of the clients and cases Tom had won/settled. Essentially San Bruno (the PG&E pipeline explosion), the PG&E “Erin Brockovich” water poisoning case, the Lion Air crash (with the 737MAX in Indonesia), a lady who had a medical malpractice suit for a mesh implant for bladder issues that failed, a lady whose son was killed by a negligent motorist in a motorcycle crash, etc. They’re all pretty sad stories that really tear your heart out for the victims. I’m not going to recap in detail but you get the gist. They’re all still in emotional and physical pain and now they can’t get the monies to pay for their surgeries.
One of the attorneys interviewed explains how legal settlements are supposed to work, how the monies should go into a trust account, the attorneys are paid from this account and the remainder is paid to the client. And how lawyers are not allowed to touch anything from that trust account (other than taking out their fees). Paraphrasing per Sonny Hostin “every single lawyer knows if you dip into that trust account, you’ll be disbarred”.
Most of the story was centered around Joe Ruigomez (and his family) the young man who was severely burned in the San Bruno natural gas pipeline explosion. Kathy (Joe’s mom) was best friends with Kim Archie who happened to know of Tom from her work on the “Erin Brockovich” case and that’s how the family got hooked up with Tom to sue PG&E on their behalf for Joe’s pain and suffering as well as his ongoing medical costs due to the multiple surgeries and care he’ll need for the rest of his life. Joe was burned over 80+% of his body and essentially had a long and horrific road to recovery that continues to this day, more than 10 years after the explosion. Tom negotiated with PG&E for a settlement for Joe but then he kept making excuses for not giving the money to him. (Side note, Kathy and Joe said that they didn’t know Tom was negotiating a settlement. Sounds like they were aware he was working on their behalf but that when the settlement was reached, Tom did that all on his own, he did not run the offer by his clients. He had told them it would go to trial).
Tom claimed that since Joe was a young man, it would be better to let Tom invest it into a fund that he said had a guaranteed 6% return. The Ruigomez family has letters and voice mails backing up their story. It sounds like they were the first ones who started to suspect that Tom might be misappropriating client funds. Check were promised and wouldn’t come. Or Tom would say “I’ll get you the money Friday but the earliest you’d get it is Monday”. Just odd excuse after odd excuse. He also blamed the mediator who was a retired judge (Justice Pinelli) and said that guy didn’t want to let the young man have the monies as they were afraid of what he’d spend it on and essentially blow it.
In a horrific turn of events Kim (the legal consultant and BFF of Kathy, mother of Joe Ruigomez the burn victim), her son is killed in a motorcycle accident. So she had to put helping Kathy’s son get his $ from Girardi on the back burner so she could focus on suing the person who killed her son. She wanted to go to another attorney (since she and Kathy thought Tom was doing something shady with client funds) but ended up feeling like she had to use Girardi Keese because no one would take her case as no one wanted to cross Tom . So she filed a wrongful death suit in her son’s case with Tom (or at least his firm) as the attorney. She said that in January 2017, that’s the last time Tom Girardi paid anything out to Joe, the burn victim, any money from his settlement. So Kim and Kathy felt like they couldn’t call anyone for help, since their perspective was that the DA, chief of police, judges, bar association, etc were all in Tom’s pocket.
The lawsuits were then starting to come out in the press, suggesting Tom didn’t pay his co-counsel, pay his victims, etc. but people gave them a bit of a free pass, especially when Erika would say she couldn’t comment on pending litigation. But by then (I think they said 2017/2018) the rumor mill was that Tom was broke. Judges and other lawyers were saying how could he have no money, he’d been worth like $100M.
Back to Kim, the mom of the motorcycle victim, she then took her case to another firm and the Ruigomez family sued Tom for repayment of their settlement and were awarded $12M. He made a few payments but then eventually paying. The settlement was turned into a judgement, which was what prompted the deposition that they have clips of from September 2020. The Ruigomez family were shocked he was broke but they were hoping that the client money was there (but supposedly its not). It’s all gone.
Total side note, but the messages Tom left these clients are very sympathetic, implying the delays were caused by others, that he wishes it wasn’t happening, etc. In multiple messages to multiple clients he would say how he really liked them, they were his favorites and “please don’t be mad at me” and “I’m a good guy, by the way”.
So Josie, another client (bladder mesh lady), filed a complaint with the bar, Tom said he hadn’t gotten any of her money from her settlement yet, but during the course of investigation for the complaint, it was discovered that Tom had received her settlement several months earlier. To date, Josie said she’s received no money.
In September 2020 a law firm in Chicago filed a complaint against Tom related to the Lion Air crash (737 Max) (this is the widows and orphans cases), the lawyers in Chicago said that Tom got the settlement monies and then did not distribute it to other law firms or clients like they were supposed to.
Fast forward to election day 2020, news hits that Erika has filed for divorce from Tom. The rumor mill was that the money was gone and that’s what the driver was of her filing for divorce. But just prior to, lenders had been filing for repayment of loans that Tom and/or Girardi Keese had defaulted on.
Once the Chicago firm saw that Erika had filed for divorce, the Chicago firm felt that things must be really bad off and that they had to go after him in court. As as result of this, the judge found Tom in contempt of court and put a lien on all his assets and turned his case over to federal prosecutors. Erika is named in that lawsuit since approximately $20M was given to her “business” for her Erika Jayne career. Many of those documents are not yet public so we can’t see all the details.
Erika has twice been subpoenaed to testify but both of her hearings were postponed so she has not been deposed. Everyone is asking “did she know” but no one really knows the answer at this point.
They close out by mentioning that Tom has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and that his brother is his conservator, bringing into question his mental capacity and if he can be criminally charged. But they are pointing out that he was out speaking in public events and seemed fine. They mentioned that Tom was forced into bankruptcy by the court and that trustees are liquidating his assets to pay people back. The CA state bar has filed a complaint against him and revoked his ability to practice law in the state.
THAT WAS AMAZING, AMSIE! Lots of stuff in there I missed while watching.
Nice work Amsie! Very thorough and concise. It will be interesting to see how many assets they are able to seize in order to liquidate and pay back the victims. Erika claiming her “gifts” so I assume they are not part of the assets that can be seized? And the burglary that took place in February this year is suspect for sure. Where are all the Chagalls now? (According to Erika, Tom’s favorite artist) Curious to see what all was stolen and not recovered. That much less assets available for liquidation.
My heart breaks for all the victims for what they have gone through and their feeling of hopelessness with the CA legal system. Can a judgment payment reform change how the monies are disbursed?
Amsie, you did a yeoman’s job!!! The recap was FABULOUS!!! It was both informative and easy to read. Thank you much, you did great.
Aww, thank you! You’re very kind. Glad you all enjoyed it
I thought it was weird that the “documentary” spent so much time and sad music on the victims and not on what actually happened with the money. I learned more about his surgery schedule than what the Bar did.
And why would the lawyer BFF hire him when she knew what was going on? Who complained to the bar? I have so many questions.
She explained why she hired him in the doc. All of the other lawyers were afraid to step on Tom’s toes and she couldn’t file a complaint because he was friends with all of the judges and heads of police, etc.
But then at the same time, they said tthat this was the OMG WORST THING you could do at the Bar? So, where is the Bar in all this? The timeline doesn’t make sense to me, and the talking heads seem to say things that aren’t lining up with the timeline they didn’t give us.
From this, I’m not even clear who reported him to the Bar. It might have been way after the lawsuits? I really don’t know, and they didn’t bother to explain.
I think the Chicago lawyer was the one who kicked things into high gear, because his complaint against Tom and Girardi Keese was what landed Tom and Erika into the loving embrace of the federal system. They had a commentator on this aspect just to let the audience know that once a case is turned over to the feds it’s over, no more running and hiding. This is how the assets were frozen and Erika’s signature as secretary on one document came out.
Most importantly, we’re looking at how power works, and what a closed system it is despite the checks and balances that are supposed to be in place. They gave us the story of the ex legal assistant of Tom’s, mother of the boy who was killed on his bike, telling us how she was forced to turn to Tom because no one else in the Californian legal system would touch her case because they didn’t want to cross Tom. This is how these mind blowing cases happen. Call it a ‘boy’s club’ or whatever, people like Tom can get away with this ostentatious behaviour because they’re powerful and continue to nurture relationships with other powerful people. The doco tells us there has been gossip in the Californian legal community for the last 5 or so years that Tom is broke. I can only imagine how easy it has been for Tom to crush someone’s life and career, or tap them for a better one. I’m in Australia and found this on YouTube. So glad to have watched it. Here we have a Victims of Crime compensation fund, and I’m wondering if anything similar exists in the States that could be applied to so the victims get their money, given the first in line once the assets are liquidated, like the Pasadena pile with the chapel etc and the jets and the brick and mortar of Girardi Keese, will no doubt be the federal government for taxes and then so many others like staff at the firm, cocounsel like the Chicago litigator AND the clients who had settlements they never saw. Also, we only get people tangentially related to the Housewives universe because Bravo aren’t going to allow their talent to talk on a doco like this and expect to be cast again. The Girardis , both of them, are dark triad personality disordered humans. I look at one of Erika’s handbags and know that I could live off what it cost for months. The woman is unrepentant. I also wonder if she’s also considered untouchable by other legal firms. We saw this with the Betty Broderick case, where the husband makes sure the wife cannot find representation. Tom had this going all over California. Plus, Erika obviously has no money, who’s going to pay her legal? It’s expensive to be her right now, especially. I hope she does time in a federal institution.
Were we watching the same show? The BFF worked for Tom, and didn’t see any red flags? It’s a big country with lots of lawyers, and she hired him anyway?
There are lots of people we didn’t hear anything about. The Bar, the money people at the firm, the other lawyers at the firm. Where are all those people?
Erika isn’t “untouchable.” Of course there’s a lawyer out there who wants to be on the news. Tom might have been powerful, but it isn’t like there aren’t thousands of other lawyers also working in California.
QueenJen
Excellent insights. Thanks!
The CA Bar has stated that they dropped the ball with all the complaints they received for the last 40 years about Tom Girardi and Girardi Keese!! WTF!!! I saw on tv this morning that a CA State Senator has stopped all funds going to the CA State Bar and has asked for an investigation because he’s sure if they let Girardi continue for 40 years without consequences that there are others like him getting away with stuff.
Until all the documents become public records, there’s not much else a news station/reporter can show.
Wow, hadn’t heard that! It doesn’t make sense to me that he could set something this size up without other people knowing. The firm’s finances at least matter to the other people at the firm! It sounds like this was a big law firm.
I’d be especially interested to see if someone inside reported it. And yea, what on earth is the CA bar doing?
Seems the Cali Bar Assoc. is seriously corrupt. I can’t help but think about the legal shenanigans highlighted in the Betty Broderick series as well. Dan got together with his cronies making it difficult for Betty to find a lawyer and if the series is correct, had judges pandering to him as well.
I don’t believe that he represented all the victims that sued PG&E. One plaintiff was the City of San Bruno itself and I know that he did not represent them. I’m not sure how these lawsuits work (thankfully) but would assume the he was only able to settle for his clients. I think his clients put their trust in him which is why he was so easily able to steal their money. So sad. I will be watching later this week and will have to prepare myself for the interviews of the victims. I live very near San Bruno and actually saw the explosion as I was driving home from work.
I also saw the explosion as l drove up 101 from Belmont to SSF for a meeting. People at the meeting were watching TV and it was, at first, thought to be a plane crash as it was so close to SFO.
“I don’t want you to be mad at me” is manipulation, and lawyers are great at it. And Tom’s one of the best lawyers out there. He is a master manipulator. I don’t buy the Alzheimer’s diagnosis one bit.
Amazing recap Amsie, it was a lot to unpack & you really did it justice!
I watched the doc & even though we’ve been getting bits & pieces about this story, of how the wheels are coming off of this whole mess it was still really appalling to see it all laid out by ABC. I though they did a really good job, I do wish they were a bit better with spelling out the time-line, but overall it was done pretty well. Loved how they even highlighted some of the felons by Bravo in this piece by the way!
It’s just so disgusting that Tom has (allegedly) done this to all these poor people! And how many others has it happened to along the years that the statute of limitations clock has run out on? Wondering if more people will come forward now that the floodgates have been opened?And I have an insanely difficult time believing that Erika knew none of the alleged activities, especially since her name was signed on documents & I believe she’s listed as being a secretary on the board of the company. Plus it felt quite telling to me personally when they showed the clip of Garcelle asking Erika if she had any idea about any of this & before saying no, Erika started to nod. That is traditionally a giant tell for a lie. The whole thing really is sickening. How greedy must one by to potentially divert money that belongs to people that have already been harmed with lifelong injuries & deformities or from families of those wrongful deaths? It’s just too much! And it really burns my cookies that Tom will more than likely avoid criminal prosecution for being unfit to stand trial due to being diagnosed with Alzheimers.
That was fantastic recap! Thank you for posting it. We have such a talented group who pick up on such great details!
Someone please recap! I’m dying to see this, but I I’ve already used up my free trial period of Hulu lol!
To those dying to watch it and have already used your free trail on hulu. Make up a new email address and voila, you can not watch the documentary.
As for a recap, I have no words! You must watch for yourself…
Also bravobravoduckingbravo on Instagram did a great job at at a recap on her stories…
Watching now. I can’t imagine that Erika will show up for the reunion. She has lost control of the narrative. It’s all shameful.
Seriously, can no one recap for the people in the cheap seats?
I’m recapping it for you. Shall I email it? Or just post in comments? I am more than half done.
you did an amazing job!!
So good Amsie! Left a comment above too.
Y’all are too sweet!
Personally I think EJ knew at least some of what’s going on and that she’s trying to slither her way out of it. I pray karma gets her bc when someone was nearly burned to death and you stole the money for his house and surgeries you get a special place in hell!
Erika did not show for the WWHL episode after the first show of the season. They just had a photo of her. Andy, the c u n t merely said Erika “isn’t doing social media.” What bullshit. Gives a good idea of how Bravo is going to protect her.
She should be cut out of all future episodes. But Bravo will do anything for ratings and will never show her in a bad light.
I agree that Bravo wants the ratings – but disagree that they won’t show her in a bad light. I think they already have. They seem to be keeping in any comment she makes about him, which are very telling and potentially damaging for both of them.
I have a feeling Bravo would love to protect the Ice Queen, but the attorneys involved in this, have more than likely already subpoenaed the footage from the first season she was on up til the newest season.
And we know how tightly controlled Erika always has to be.
I’ll take transparent and sloppy and real and wonderful any day.
Thank you for this! I am enjoying all the comments, because I haven’t been able to watch this either. I have been reading things about Danielle commenting. Exciting to read. I admit to FOMO!
I’m going to watch it later tonight. I’ll see if I can screen record it and upload it to YouTube.
Yay?!
If it works I will email you the link tonight.
YAY! Thanks and don’t over do things. Get some rest!
So hubby wanted to catch up on old mr. Inbetween episodes, signed up for the free trial and then this gem appeared on my screen🤗 loving this awful excuse for a documentary, and come on a cold open with Staub, wow, lol!!! How did boy George’s music get in here PK🤣🤣🤣🤣
I can’t wait to watch this. I’ve had the most awful weekend /2 decades more accurate. No end in sight. Anyway I get free Hulu from Sprint. They merged with T-Mobile so not sure if you can get it if started out strictly T-Mobile. I got sucked into The Handmaids Tale and although brutal to watch sometimes you just wanna see how things turn out. I’ve not read the book series. I’ve also been watching some old shows on YouTube but they get taken down a lot dvd copyright etc. I gotta see what Danielle has to say.
The documentary portrays Tom as an alleged grifter who robbed Peter to pay Paul. I’m a Cali lawyer, when thing you never do is comingle your funds with any settlement funds that a client receives. He did…multiple times and the state bar ignored complaints. The documentary suggests that he glad handed many lawyers and politicians and was too powerful for the state bar to intervene.
The documentary focuses on 2 moms who were childhood friends. Mom number one Lost everything in the PGNE gas explosion. Her son had burns over 80% of his body and has had over 30 surgeries with many more to come.
The 2nd mom lost her set in a tragic motorcycle accident and hired Girard to ifile a wrongful death claim. Neither family was paid. Gerardi is on tape contacting mom number one and telling her that the arbitration judge suggested that Tom hang on to the money because the son was a young man and might miscandal the funds. The arbitration judge denies Tom’s claim. Frankly, wants the settlement is signed,, a judge’s work is done. He promised a 6% return and in writing stated that the sonn would lose no money by investing through Tom.
Eventually, after getting the run around for several months they sued him. Tom is heard in several taped messages stating “don’t be mad at me…you all were my favorite clients.” In a taped deposition, Tom said that he had blown through a 100 million dollars. A portion of that money went to EJ global which is Erica’s production company. They won a 12 million dollar settlement against him.
It really hit the fan when a Chicago lawyer sued Tom for not paying him for his participation in the Lyonn Air lawsuit. Several of his clients had not been paid. Most were widows and orphans who did not receive one cent. After that, other lending companies who Girardi had borrowed money from also came after him. This was all before Erica filed for divorce. Her marital assets are also subject to all of the judgments coming in against him. She was subpoenad to give depositions about her assets twice and those hearings were “postponed.” Again, at least one hearing was before she filed for divorce, possibly two.
One lawyer stated that he had seen Tom multiple times lecturing or making presentations In the months before he claimed Alzheimer’s as a defense.
It’s ugly.
Tks for posting!
If the Chicago lawyer hadn’t opened the can of worms, this scam could have gone on much longer. According to the documentary the Chicago lawyer and judge are not influenced/swayed by Tom Girardi as everyone is in CA.
The shocking part to me was when they said there have been rumors for about 20 years that something underhanded might be going on at Girardi Keese but because of all their connections nothing was ever done.
I so agree! And where was the oversight within his law firm? How could the management within his company not have known? It boggles my mind.
Cheap seats here. Thank you for the info so far! It sounds good!
Thanks, I watched it on Hulu from a friend who sent the links. How the hell do you even begin to recap that. Tom and Erika are both awful people. That’s literally all I can say.
It’s a special kind of sickening awful I watched it twice I can’t understand the greed and the entitlement
I’m also in the cheap seats. Would love to see a recap on here.
Great doc broke down stuff I’ve heard before but with more detail. I guess he had to jump from one large lawsuit to the next to keep the ponzi going. Glad to know this was referred to the feds. Wondering what will become of this. Felons by bravo indeed, allegedly🙄
Sadly, Bravo seems to adore the felons. Ugh!
I may be wrong, here, but didn’t Erin Brockville get her start working for Tom on the PG&E thing? It would be interesting to get her take on all this….
I was thinking the same thing. Thursday there is an interview with her (partly because of the Katey Segal “Rebel” show). Curious to see if Brokovich will comment.
No, she worked for Ed Masry’s firm which was very tiny. He had to get a bigger firm to take over due to the costs & that was when Girardi Keese got involved. If you watched Erin Brockovich, the role played by Peter Coyote is supposed to be Tom.
Ugh. Danielle and Dana made me question the validity of it all at first. But damn. Tom is guilty as sin. I’m not sure what kind of defense he could possibly pull that would work at this point. And if Erika didn’t know, she’s the biggest dumbass ever. What I don’t understand is why she thought RHOBH would be a good idea this season. It makes her look so much worse. There’s no recovering from that.
I wish they went into more details about the Indonesian plane. I will have to Google to find out more about that one. The man that was burned and the woman with faulty surgeries were heartbreaking. He is charming. From the outside we think it’s nuts to trust the things he was saying; “don’t be mad at me.” He really acted like he cared about the victims. Didn’t LVP call him an alligator or something. That would be about right.
As soon as I finished watching, I thought of you T. I know you don’t Hulu but I was like I neeeeed her opinion on this mess.
I can NOT figure out why Dana Wilkey was interviewed for this thing! Or really even Heather for that matter. Two people with podcasts?! At least Heather is housewife adjacent. Dana looks a mess.
She was the only one willing to say on camera that the divorce was rumored before the divorce filing. I mean get that airtime, girl, but it was just vague and how would she know? What we needed instead was a clear timeline, which would have made more sense.
There was a really interesting 2 hour show last year on ABC about the Lion Air crash. You could probably find it online. It didn’t talk about lawyers. It just talked about the crash and Boeing. (if Ralph Nader’s great niece (?) had not been on that plane Boeing might have gotten away with covering up what happened.
That poor kid who was burned so badly in the San Bruno pipeline explosion has had ~30 surgeries & still needs many more. What Tom did to all those clients was unconscionable.
I’ve only watched half of the doc so far. I barely recognized Danielle. Maybe it was the hair color or maybe it was fillers or something in her face. I didn’t even recognize Dana until they showed that clip about her $25,000 sunglasses. I think those two were probably the only ones who were willing to be on the documentary.
Erika was so proud of that closet and all those expensive clothes and shoes. In the doc there was a clip of her giving some reporter a tour of their home and she made it sound like the most exciting part was her closet. Another thing they said in the documentary was that she had always wanted to be an entertainer so asked Tom to finance that venture. I think they said it was coming to an end because there was no return on it but then she got the job on Housewives. I’m sure she saw that as a way to get exposure for her vanity shows. I thought it was funny when Danielle talked about how Erica can’t carry a tune.
So sorry! I didn’t see how long my post was until I actually posted it.
So I got hulu, and watched.
From the beginning, all I could see was Erika being a Kim Zolciak wanna be, but not as smart and as inexpensive getting there.
I am glad the story was tol d. Sadly another after the fact of years of people being aware.
IF IT WALK S LIKE A DUCK………….
Wait – you think Kim Zolciak is smart??
I can’t believe that’s what you meant to say. It’s not possible!
There’s nothing smart about Kim. NOTHING.
I was waiting for that, LOL.
My point is the fact that Erika was even dumber than Kim Z.
Pure disrespect!.
Karen, said regarding Erika with pure disrespect.😊
Erika did say that she was very involved in the company on one of the rhobh episodes.
Playing Devil’s Advocate here (don’t hate me) but even after this documentary, Erica Jayne Girardi will still say that she didn’t know any of what Tom was doing to get his money. I have read recaps and it really all unfortunately *seems to* boil down to Tom himself scheming to get as much cash flow as he could get his hands on. I can’t see where they show that she knew. When anyone asks her about this, she’ll simply shrug and say “You’ll have to ask HIM. HE is the only one who knows.” She’ll play dumb all the way to the end. It makes me sick. But, the way that the other Housewives of Beverly Hills are continuing to rally around her, current day, even AFTER all the real-time shit hit the fan, makes me think that for whatever reason, she has said something to them to make them believe her. Or, they have enough dirt on themselves that they think stuff like this is normal. Man, do I need her to have some consequences for this…but my fear is that she will slither out of it.
She was subpoenaed in September and filed for divorce in October or November. She knew. She just didn’t care.
How do you tell someone burned over 80% of their body that they can’t have their rightful money. To say he might become a drug addict and not give him the money even needed for ongoing and forever surgeries. the absolute disgustedly unmitigated gal of that craven soulless asshole.
And she absolutely knew. Like/sleazy recognizes like/sleazy. Those women in that strip club know what kind of men get off those private jets across at that airport. She got beyond greedy and he got sloppy.
So is it still wrong to parade them through the streets yelling shame and throwing rotten fruit and veg? Or maybe something little heavier for the victims and their families, I wonder?
Because the “Justice System” works for them and not for us, that is for fucking sure.
Remember in one of her earliest seasons, Erica and a few others were shopping or something and she said she wasn’t allowed to buy jewelry for herself? She made a clear point that Tom controlled the money for large purchases and luxury items. In fact, it sparked a pretty lively discussion on this site😀 Anyway, that really stood out for me at the time. I bet she has that scene stored in her safe deposit box!
Doesn’t Tom have any sort of insurance? There has to be some way for these poor people to collect what is rightfully theirs.
I am hoping that the CA bar has a big enough victim fund to pay some of these poor people. I know that my lawyer license fees in PA go (at least in part) to a fund for people scammed by their lawyers.
Amen to that, sibling.
I don’t get why Tom is still living in his mansion. In Pasadena -how is he keeping the lights on? Surely he has cash stashed somewhere. I don’t believe he is broke. I think he’s just a sociopath. Those voicemails sound pathologically cringey to me
And what is the reason Erika divorced him after 20 years if not to protect herself financially?
I’m so upset from watching this
Now about the gifts she’s claiming Tom gave her so she can keep them because they were gifts
That’s where I know Erika is a sick sick individual to believe it’s okay to keep a gift purchased with stolen money.
Right? She hasn’t shown an once of remorse since all of this came to light. She’s worried about herself and no one else.
Good point. If (big if) she didn’t know then, she sure as hell knows now and simply doesn’t care.
Because she’s a victim🤣🤣🤣 sarcasm in case anyone misconstrued that!
You’re right…she knows now. I would be giving the Chanel and Birkins, the PJs and Lambs/Rolls to the victims. SHE’S GROSS HE’S JUST SAD AND GROSS.
She’s fighting to keep expensive gifts bought with blood money,
Even if she knew nothing which is unlikely her behavior now that she does know Is very telling.
I remembered why I hate Hulu, ugh the ads.
This story makes even less sense to me now. The Bar did nothing? The law firm did nothing? The other lawyers did nothing? Until the “Chicago” lawsuit? WTF? So confused.
All of these cases seem to postdate RH…
Because he paid off everyone from the governor down with the blood money. He owned judges, lawyers, politicians in Ca, etc… it was only until another judge not paid off actually looked into this and knew he was doing shading things.
That isn’t what the victims said. It sounded like those people didn’t even file a bar complaint or do anything at all until they finally sued.
And wouldn’t a lawyer know this is all a mess with her friend before hiring him anyway? It makes no sense.
They never said what the bar or the DA or whatever did. So weird. This is why I need American Greed format instead of people talking about rumors or being vague.
Yup
I had similar thoughts initially. I wondered how he could have been permitted to siphon these clients’ trust money for so long without being questioned, because I too got the impression that they did not question it even when, at least with hindsight, much of it seems odd and out of line.
I think when we are hurting and overwhelmed, we sometimes just want someone else to take the wheel so we can breathe. Traumatized clients should be able to do that with their lawyers, knowing that they are protected by standards of fiduciary duty, rules of professional conduct and (one would hope) human compassion.
Tom was given latitude professionally and personally because of his success and good reputation, coupled with his charisma. I am not prepared to conclude that he paid off anyone. I would not be surprised to learn that the investments he made as trustee on behalf of his clients were fully authorized (on paper). Clearly, no money in the pockets of the victims cannot be the moral result, but as we know, that can be quite different from the legal result. At this time, I don’t believe “no money for clients” was Tom’s intended result.
I think COVID shutdowns in the court system threw a curve ball that a younger, sharper Tom may have been able to hit, but this Tom could not. He needed new settlements to fund the older payments but the system had ground to nearly a halt. I’m interested to see how it all plays out.
As an aside, I’m currently living a similar scenario (on a smaller scale) in which I am the equivalent of one of Tom’s children. I am far more compassionate toward Tom than Erika. I think she’s the devil incarnate, but I’m sure I’m projecting.
I’m not even sure that’s what happened. It suggests this was a pattern, but there’s no timeline or anything to back it up. It’s just kind of a confusing mess.
I guess from the documentary there are two cases he maybe stole from. That’s different than the rumors and suggestions that this went on for years. I mean yea, stealing from those cases is bad, but is that all we are talking about? Open the floodgates to what? I just found it really sloppy. And that matters because how could this have possibly gone on for years on this scale???
They only covered a few of the most egregious cases but evidently there are many more who haven’t been paid when the house of cards collapsed.
And it is clear that for many years he was using money in the trust fund to cover other expenses. That is the nature of a Ponzi scheme – you use new money coming in to pay money you owe.
Just taking money from the clients’ trust accounts is ground for disbarment even if you return the money.
Other people had tried to file lawsuits against Tom but were told the deadline had passed.
Follow @Brandonous and @Law360 on Twitter to get legal insight into the Girardis. In fact this was just posted:
Brandon Lowrey
@brandonous
·
1h
BREAKING: Erika Girardi’s attorney wants to drop her as a client, saying there was a “breakdown” in the trust and confidence needed for an attorney-client relationship.
For a few dollars more (4 I think) you get Hulu with NO ads – I love it!
This will work a lot better in American Greed format. ABC is struggling to match up sexy Housewives and boring financial details. The weird music is not helping. I’ma need CNBC to take this one over.
100% I need my stacy keach narration
I haven’t read all the comments..but
I doubt she knew the intricate details of Tom’s/his firm’s financial practices. Pretty sure she eagerly believed the lies he prob told ‘made a million here, 20 million there…’. At the same time, I think she was absolutely aware that shit storm was in the pipeline when she suddenly filed for divorce, citing decades of cheating.
I would bet when (if) forensics are completed, this is another Madoff style scenario. Robbed Pete to pay paul. And then Robbed frank to pay Peter… a pyramid. It would have likely continued on had he not misjudged the Pissed Off Moms. He could have easily made the Lions Air fund confusing enough to put that off for years.
And..! Let’s not forget he had 9000 active (billable) clients when the state stepped in. And 900 active cases. (His firm would have 33% PLUS COST from everything settlement.) that tells us the kind of money that place reeled in on a regular basis.
Everything erika owns should be seized and slowly sold off. Let her prove every pc that she bought with her own $$. But it won’t be. The families of these style crooks are never held financially accountable to the extent they should be IMO. That she has not yet surrendered anything (that we know of) screams to her own character
How this plays out will be probably interesting.
But it’s far more likely to just piss me off royally
I mean I believe this. Even if she were the most savvy, does she really know if he get 2M or 20M this month?
But the timing of the lawsuits/bar complaints/whatever else is unclear. I’m not even clear when they were forced into bankruptcy. This “documentary” didn’t cover much timeline, so it’s all a bunch of mud to me.
I think the only thing at this point she can say was RH money is to pay her staff, the gifts are fair game!
So she gets $40,000.00 a month from Bravo to pay Mikey?
There is an old saying about ignorance being no excuse for disobeying the law.
If the guy were considered by the judge to be too young to responsibly handle his money, it is put into an escrow or trust account. The judge may have asked Tom to set up or oversee the account/trust, but not to hold/keep/“borrow” the money.
Erika had nothing $$$ going into this marriage. Everything was funded by Tom. Whether or not with ill-gotten gains remains to be seen. If everything came from Tom, then everything she owns should, I believe, be legally subject to seizure. We all know her “hit recordings” did not out-earn the cost of her production expenses.
One more thing that has bugged me for years: Why is everyone always ripping Dorit for her “accent” when Erika talks like a combo fake-Brit Valley Girl and no one says zip about that? At least Dorit has spent years in other countries, during which people OFTEN pick up inflections and incorporate into their original way of speaking.
The guy was an adult. Judges do not care what adults do with their money.
Her OMG lawyer BFF should have known that — and the “payments” dragged on for years? The whole story makes no sense.
Do you think the housewives had a viewing party and didn’t invite Erika?
I think the information & the interviews were so informative. But, what a questionable & WTF decision to have Danielle Staub open??? (along with the gratuitous pan down the leg shot) Made me show feel a little slimy at the beginning. The show’s open felt like ANOTHER disservice to the victims to start with a person known for such questionable actions & zero relevance to tell THEIR story. There were many compelling people on the show that could have done an amazing open. Anyone in production out there??? At the least Dana Wilkey was a Beverly Hills housewife.
It blows my mind that Tom’s firm was able to get away with this for so long. I’m thinking it was a long game. Using current clients to pay off past??? I guess we will eventually find out.
I never comment. But I had to for this one. My sister and I watched it last night. I can’t even describe the level of disgust we both felt for Tom after watching. I feel absolutely horrible for the young man who was the survivor of the explosion. Broke my heart that his girlfriend didn’t make it. How can he prey on people like this? He had so much money but it wasn’t enough? We were wondering what caused him to go this? My sister thinks to find Erikas life style. But did he love her that much that he would risk it all for her? 50 million in cash just gone?How? So many questions.
* to fund Erika’s lifestyle.
If anyone has a link, I would greatly appreciated it as Hulu won’t give me a free trial and I would love to watch it. Thanks
Same here. Thanks
Do we think Erica knew? Somewhat yes? Head in sand as long as money was free flowing? Or, did she know it all?
I go back & forth on this one. We all have friends who are grown, SMART women who are clueless AF about their finances. Friends who don’t have a clue what their mortgages are, how much is in their savings or investment accounts are. Let’s face you are doing other things – living life. Life is happening and they aren’t asking questions – if their amex bills are getting paid and cash in their accounts. We are all busy and money is messy, so you just don’t ask.
I am not saying this is right or wrong – but it is the reality of the way MANY couples and families live. From LA to small town midwest. It’s reality. Not excusing the use of victims money, simply pondering how much Erica clued in – or out.
This is exactly where I am stuck! I do not like Erica one bit – never did – agreed that she was cold as ice, above it all, snarled like a cornered dog when confronted…but I too have a feeling that she just accepted that Tom had tons of money and figured it was because he was famous, high-powered lawyer. Women like her assume the faucet of money is never ending.
He seemed to have a good reputation until all of this horror came out. My issue now is that while she can (and will) *claim* not to know any of this was happening, once it came out, she didn’t act like most people would…which is embarrassed and horrified. She filed for divorce to extract herself from it and like some have said, I’m sure she has money in a mattress somewhere.
Erika was personally served papers before she filed for divorce in regards to the burn victim. She knew there was a judgment, Tom gave ej global 20mil loan. She knew something… was up!
She’s a conniver
He’s a crook
Dana Wilkey I would never know that was her … but I liked her.
Hearts go out to all the victims and families. Very moving when victims spoke.
After watching this I felt so bad for the victims. They had all gone through something and Tom took what was Rightfully for them. I’ve worked in a law firm In Newport Beach California and no one ever had what Tom had! Can I say I fell out of my chair when karma chameleon came on. Going forward that song is going to reminder me of Erika and her downfall! I hope there’s a special place in hell for Erica and Tom for what they’ve done to these people! Overall I hope the people get their settlement One way or the other. I hate that fact they talked to Danielle Staub aka Beverly Ann Merrill aka Professional Victim, Dana aka Pam and Heather McDonald theyre thirst people in the bravo world. Somewhere Dorit is clutching her stolen pearls and worried she’s next!
This makes me think over the years Erica has been very guarded do you think it was because she knew one day this was all going to be exposed?
I really hope at the end of this season Bravo/UniversalNBC fires her! If they were smart at the end of the season to clear their name for hiring someone like Erika they would donate money to the victim fund and say “Erika will NEVER be employed by UniversalNBC Again”
Ps Dorit….. you’re next!
I truly hope so!
I truly think they set the bar for Erika and Tom when they opened with Danielle. Think about it. She and Erika stripped at the same bar.
BREAKING NEWS!!! Erika’s attorney for the bankruptcy just dumped her per Ronald Richards!!!
So I know people reference the Erin Brockovich movie. It is my understanding that Tom was the Peter Coyote character. I don’t see that character as the hero or sympathetic member of the team. In fact, his associate was rather nasty toward Erin as she tried to help the parties of that terrible situation.
On twitter today, the lawyer (Richard Palmer?) posted pleadings by EJ’s lawyer asking to be released from representing her. Alleged a total breakdown in client/attorney confidence and said they couldn’t represent her. Said they’d tell the judge in cemera (secretly) if he wanted details.
This suggests to me that they learned bad things about her, and that she intended to lie. It did not say she wasn’t paying them.
Those VMs to the victims made me cry. There are no words sufficient to describe either one of these criminals. And she definitely knew and signed lots of documents. Lying liar fuck.
Yes I just saw her attorneys dropped her! If she had any shred of integrity or human decency, she would give up all of her excessive material possessions to help pay the deserving victims. She is disgusting.
WELL THIS IS BIG NEWS. USUALLY THIS SORT OF THING IS DONE QUIETLY BETWEEN THE ATTORNEY AND THE CLIENT. APPARENTLY SHE WAS REFUSING TO LET THEM DROP HER SO NOW THE JUDGE HAS TO DO IT. THE DOCUMENTS MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE ANY TRUST IN WHAT SHE HAS TOLD THEM. IN OTHER WORDS, SHE’S LYING.
BTW, this was her BANKRUPTCY lawyers, not the criminal ones she will need soon.
Totally not worth staking your reputation or license to practice on the line if you feel a client is not forthcoming. What a mess and no it isn’t pretty at all. It’s awful and as ugly as it gets. My heart breaks for the victims of this alleged fraud and deception. I hope they will eventually see some of their settlements.
I mean it’s sort of the same thing because they were forced into involuntary bankruptcy. The “documentary” at least nailed that down.
Just Wow! I feel so horrible for the victims, but I’m on the edge of my seat wanting more info on Erika’s involvement!
Does anyone remember watching her on Dancing with the Stars? She told her partner that if they won, she would buy him a Lamborghini or something like that. I just remember thinking that she seemed like a horrible person. When someone earns money, they don’t usually squander it like that. When someone is a con artist, they flaunt it.
Guess she will have to go read the ads on park benches for a new attorney. I wouldn’t want to represent her knowing what happened to the victims. Horrible PR for the firm.
I hope that a court appointed Psychiatrist is able to make sure that he has a neurological evaluation, a Memory Disorder assessment at a facility like UCIMC that specializes with these disorders . This is where I used to send my patients comprehensive testing, evaluation and treatment for any cognitive impairments, either Vascular or age related Dementia or a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease if that is determined along with what stage. this would be essential for appropriate treatment and what if any need for a private conservator.
It seems to me that you could easily fake memory loss/dementia. What do you think?
Been done before and the very rich guy who did it had a magical comeback quite shortly after his acquittal…
After all this mess, I was surprised there actually were two planes! It was true!
In the documentary they alleged that Erika gave away assets to 3rd parties and claimed others were gifts- while slow panning her closet full of items. The Danielle Staub contribution (with the shot of her louboutin heels and channel earrings talking about Erika and Tom allegedly being fake and conniving was the icing on the cake- I mean who is considered the worst housewife? Grab one of the contenders and have them turn down their nose on Erika – speaks volumes. Excellent production.
One thing that made me feel horrible was the man burned by the explosion saying he couldn’t afford his mortgage due to lack of payments and the mom’s friend saying we had to decide who to fight for, so we chose the one still alive. My heart breaks for them.
But see, that didn’t make sense. Why didn’t the pending lawsuit with the OMG BAD ASS LAWYER LADY just change to another lawyer? It’s not like you are stuck with him forever, especially by the time this was filmed when I think he was disbarred. I have so many questions…
First time commenting because this pisses me off This is so disturbing and disgusting. Everyone in Ca needs to contact Gavin Newsom and demand he returns any money/donation he received from Tom Giardi and every other politician should do the same. Apparently she is his favorite housewife because of all the money Tom donated to him. The victims need to be paid!
Newsome return donations??? Unfortunately not likely. We can’t even get the handsome devil recalled despite both Democrats & Republicans signing his recall & we had more than enough signatures!
Could you PULEASE ask Gavin to stop spamming me asking for campaign donations? Please and thank you.
I have loosely followed the case from YouTube bloggers but I don’t think I fully got the picture until watching the documentary last night. Like a lot of people wrote, when you heard the burn victim story and see what he had to endure. My god you look at Erika & Tom’s lifestyle in a totally different way. The other story that really impacted me was the Lion Air crash victims, it was something about them laying out the shoes they recovered that was so eerie.
I understood more about what the different lawsuits are about. Something the nobody is talking about is what happened to Keese. They didn’t mention him at all in the documentary or any of the news. Was he not involved in any of the wrong doing. I am struggling to believe Tom was doing all these crooked things and his partner didn’t have some inclination or hand in it.
I found it really weird that in a lot of his correspondence or in discussion he would say “Are you mad at me?” or “Please don’t be mad at me. I am a good guy” It just sounds creepy, like a child or a sick person. He is 80 and it just sounds so odd to me. They will definitely be coming for Erika, every second she displayed her wealth on television can be used as a catalogue of her wealth. She can’t claim she knew nothing, at some point you have to realize something was not adding up, whether she knew the full details of what was happening or if she just decided to put on blinders. It is all coming back to them now.
If I remember correctly (which would be a miracle, actually) Keese is suing Tom as well. Apparently he didn’t get his attorney fees or whatever for a lot of things. There are literally so many suits that it’s hard to keep up.
Yes, Keese and a few other attorneys who worked fir him on a sub contracted basis are suing him. On a side note, they never mentioned her son in the documentary, not even to say she left him in the care of his father to pursue her “career” in LA or that he lived with her and Tom when he was older. Probably a good thing fir him that they didn’t. It must be so difficult for him.
Their mansion was burglarized a few months back? How convenient. I wonder what was on the list of stolen assets? 50 million cash, jewelry, purses, art etc?
I bet that was 100% an inside job.
I’m late on commenting cuz after watching, I was stunned. But then I got to thinking that all this time we called Erika ice queen and cold and unemotional, etc. was really her cover. Here is this girl who leaves her kid behind in NY, arrives in LA and ends up working at a bar where Tom was her customer. They get married, which to her means I’VE ARRIVED! She buys whatever she wants, gets bored and decides she is talented enough to be A STAR! The ultimate LA dream! In her mind, she made it on her own, But deep inside she knows the truth, if not for Tom, she’d still be slinging drinks cuz she has no other marketable skills other than to be an arm piece for some old rich guy. All her years on RHOBH she threw her wealth in everyone’s face, looked down on people, refused to admit she was human and basically showed us she is nothing more than a jealous bitch. Jealous of her co-stars, angry that she had to marry some old man to have anything, bitter that her life is half over and what does she have to show for it? What achievements on her own besides birthing a baby which anyone can do with their eyes closed. Again, no marketable skills and no redeeming qualities other than flashing the cash. And now this, the truth comes out. She is STILL refusing to admit any wrongdoing, she is still flashing what cash she has hidden, and she is still an angry bitch. Now I hear her lawyer quit after watching the Hulu documentary. And the plot thickens. It’s not expensive to be you, Erika, it’s embarrassing.
No offense but not everyone can birth a baby “with their eyes closed”, wish I could otherwise I would have already. Just saying.
Did they ever pinpoint how long he was running this fraud? Did it exist before or after he married Erica I wonder. Or did it happen when he won his first big cases and was suddenly flush with cash, popularity, and prestige? I feel like there a needs to do a limited documentary series that go into the depts on the scam, minus Daniel the irrelevant housewive! Did he cheat in law school, how long has he displayed this sociopathic behavior. And now that her legal council quit, what will come if this. Did she really think people would buy her story, I’m a scorned women with a Maserati act, or she that was burglarized! The depts of this story make Tre and Joe seem like nothing and why are feds all over Jen Shah for years, but erica I just seems like they just got the case! So many questions!!!
I decided to watch this after reading all these comments. Wow! I mean “Wow”! I was listening to a podcast yesterday where they mentioned Erika’s lawyers have filed a petition to not represent her anymore?! Maybe someone on here mentioned it above. I didn’t catch it above in another comment. Sorry if I missed it and someone else with law expertise can explain it better than me trying to do it. Shaking my head watching all her old footage on the show and the victim statements. I liked her when she first came on the show and then I stopped watching the show and just reading the recaps here. Ugh.
That lawyer guy on Twitter linked to a podcast he did. Now THAT was worth a listen!
And he’s totally right. Any lawyer or accountant or anything who saw how that settlement was being handled would have seen a giant red flag.
And he said he didn’t believe jen shah spends that much on glam squad 😂
Is this what Dolores Catania’s husband did to get disbarred? Frank. Because she sure did excuse it, “No one lost money” etc etc. More Felons by Bravo. Mind boggling.
Yes; Frank was disbarred from borrowing against a trust account. I believe he repayed it in full but it’s a HUGE no-no.
Thanks. I really like Delores but she acted like he did nothing wrong! That never made sense. Why do I believe everyone is always telling the truth?! I guess she had to explain it away for the sake of the kids. And I am sure that it wasn’t the first time he did that. I will never understand greed. Never.
I am going to enjoy finally reading this, I feel like I can only get on the site a couple times a month. The rest of the time I am blocked. Not sure what’s going on? Is it specific to myself or something everyone has trouble with?
Clearly, the IP you are on now isn’t blocked, but it sounds like you might be using another one that is? Maybe from work or another location?
Just watched that was a hard and heartbreaking documentary.
For 40 years the bar association received complaints. They did nothing not a damn thing. Even if they were paid off those who covered are in serious trouble.
IMHO the way Erika has carried herself as a “victim” in all this. Its like she thinks Tom owes her for being married to him. They never looked like a married couple. More like an employee and boss relationship. The zero empathy towards the victims is disturbing. It’s as if she thinks she should be in that category too.
When the burn victim spoke of his surgeries done and still facing. The fact that Tom knew all of this but still refused to give him his settlement. Or the other victims all of which was heartbreaking. All for Erika’s failed music career? handbags? jewelry? It’s all gross.
He contributed to Biden’s campaign too. I am sure they are all distancing themselves from Tom.
His exwife too the one that he guaranteed 10k for life. Her attempts at suing for payment went nowhere. How is that even possible?
I think the next few years lots of things will come to light.
I also think she’s guilty. I also think that’s why her son never came on the show. He’s a cop. She kept him far to protect him. There’s no way he didn’t know what was up too.
Wow. Never thought of that. Why would you go on a show and display your wealth/greed when you KNOW something is coming down the pike? Is there any chance she didn’t know? She seems too shrewd for that.
You don’t have to be a criminal to not want to be on reality TV. There are plenty of peripheral relatives who have refused to be filmed. I know I’d take a big pass.
I think it’s a huge stretch to think that her independent, adult son had anything at all to do with this just because he didn’t want to have a fistfight over brunch with middle aged women in wigs.
ERICA JAYNE’S ATTORNYS THAT DROPPED HER LAST WEEK AND HAVE HAD A MYSTERIOUS CHANGE OF HEART. THEY FILED TO DROP THEIR REQUEST TO WITHDRAW.
SOUNDS LIKE SOMEONE FOUND SOME MONEY TO PAY ATTORNEYS WITH.
What? Well that’s interesting! Maybe is was more about the money than caring about the validity of her side of the story? I just can’t see how she could have no clue any of the alleged activities were a thing.
Looks like we might want to check out Kate Casey’s June 16 podcast with one of the attorneys suing Tom and Erika for victims who they swindled. Click here for the link to the podcast. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-367-attorney-jay-edelson-on-girardi-case-kent-weed/id1154758766?i=1000525705039
“We decided to file [our lawsuit] because Erica filed for divorce. When she filed for divorce, we [realized] that she probably was doing that because the money was gone,” Jay explained. “The theory of our case is that she was basically taking client funds and using it to fund her lifestyle. And if we’re successful in [proving] that, that means that we’re going to be able to get whatever possessions she has back in order to pay off any sort of judgment.”
As RHOBH fans may have heard, Erika has been attempting to retain her assets in recent weeks by suggesting they were gifts from her husband and not assets of the once-famed attorney.
She has also been trying to portray herself as an innocent spouse of Thomas. But, as Jay told Kate, he plans to prove that she was very much involved in both his borrowing and his alleged transferring of misappropriated funds.
“He was loaning money to her [entertainment] company, 10s of millions of dollars to her company, and we think that money came from client funds. We’re going to look into all of that and that’s all going to be [part of the proof we present] to a jury that she was knee-deep in this fraud,” he vowed.
Although Erika has suggested that only Thomas knows about the supposed crimes he has committed over the past several years, Jay doesn’t believe she was one of his victims. Instead, he feels that she actually “played him.”
Thank you! I will check it out! I appreciate you telling us about Ronald Richards’ Twitter post as well. Love reading through the documents.
Thank you! Look forward to listening. I so hope we can keep the interest in these cases and get good info as it happens!
All of this is insane. I think this is just the start. Jay mentioned Erika is facing MANY civil lawsuits. But doesn’t think she will face anything criminal as far as he knows. All those signed documents wouldn’t it prove they were in cohoots? Unless she has been talking to the feds? Which she alluded to in that stupid 2 truths game. After hearing this it shedds a different light on her. She’s been conning him this entire time.
Tom really screwed his clients when he took out all those high interest loans. Since the creditors will be the first ones paid, there will likely be little to nothing left for the victims after the liquidation and sale of assets. It’s so sad, and gets even more pitiful for the victims. Of course the money lenders get paid first, the ones who need it least.
I enjoyed the documentary. The burn victim guy and his mom are a class act. Danielle looked more weathered than usual and her voice sounds gravely, but she’s one million dollars in debt so that makes sense to me.
Dana’s put on the COVID 19lbs. but I liked her interview. She showed a different side from RH, and seems calm and clear.
Tap Tap! Is this thing still on?
Check out Erika Jayne with no spanx, Facetime, hair, or makeup.
Number 8 is my favorite. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9710757/Erika-Jayne-seen-no-make-messy-hair-forced-40k-month-glam-squad.html
Awwww, what a pretty mess. AHA!!
I wish I looked half that decent when exiting my abode.
Well that’s a pretty low bar to set…