'The Housewife and the Hustler’: Biggest Bombshells About Erika and Tom

Tom Girardi’s alleged victims played voicemails from Erika Jayne’s husband in 'The Housewife and the Hustler’ Hulu doc — biggest revelations

As Erika Jayne prepares to open up about her split and estranged husband’s legal woes on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Tom Girardi’s alleged victims are speaking out in The Housewife and the Hustler.

The ABC News Originals documentary detailed the allegations against Tom, 82, and his firm, Girardi Keese, and featured interviews with his alleged victims, including Joe Ruigomez, who was severely burned and scarred in 2010’s San Bruno gas pipeline explosion. According to the family, the lawyer “basically robbed” Joe of the millions of dollars from the settlement as he was difficult to reach while “managing” the funds.

Kim Archie, Ruigomez family friend and former legal consultant at Girardi Keese, explained, “[Tom’s mother Kathy] and I would joke, like, ‘Who are we going to call? We can’t all the D.A., that’s Tom’s friends. We can’t go to the Chief of Police, that’s Tom’s friend. You can’t go to the California Attorney General, that’s Tom’s friend. You can’t go the California bar, that’s Tom friends.’”

While the special follows years of Tom’s law career, he publicly came under fire in December 2020, one month after Erika, 49, abruptly filed for divorce after more than 20 years of marriage. The spouses were subsequently accused of embezzling settlement funds intended for the victims of families killed in the Lion Air Flight 610 in 2018.

“While Erika publicly filed for divorce this month, on information and belief, that ‘divorce’ is simply a sham attempt to fraudulently protect Tom’s and Erika’s money from those that seek to collect on debts owed by Tom and his law firm GK,” Class action firm Edelson PC claimed in court documents, alleging that the pair “are on the verge of financial collapse and locked in a downward spiral of mounting debts and dwindling funds.”

In promos for season 11 of RHOBH, which is currently airing, Erika tells her costars that she was unaware of the various lawsuits against Tom. The “Pretty Mess” songstress’ spouse, meanwhile, has been placed under conservatorship after he was diagnosed with late-onset Alzheimer’s and dementia. The details of his health issues were publicly revealed in March court docs. Tom, meanwhile, told the judge in court earlier this month that he disagrees with his brother, Robert Girardi, taking control of his finances.

The Housewife and the Hustler starts streaming on Hulu Monday, June 14. The documentary included reps for Bravo, Tom and Erika denied repeated requests for comment.

Scroll through for the biggest bombshells from the doc: