We know how many f--ks she gives. But what about ditching her 3-year-old kid? Or jacking
millions from her hubby's clients? Here's why Erika Girardi's the shadiest B in Beverly
Hills.
To borrow a line from Kanye, we "ain't saying she a gold digger" — but plenty of other
people are! Ever since Erika shot to fame on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,"
she's been plagued by the phrase. And that's mainly because her ex-husband, Tom Girardi,
is 33 years older than she is. They met while she was a cocktail waitress in the late '90s.
"I love you; thank you for meeting me."
Tom reportedly claimed that his fortune clocked in at a whopping $264 million in 2015. And
we're guessing then-waitress Erika's bank account was…a lot smaller. Still, Erika
has always shot down the gold digger claims, admitting to People in 2018,
"Everyone thought I was marrying him to have a baby and lock down the money, as ugly as
that sounds."
She also pointed out on a 2015 episode of "Real Housewives" that she worked hard for
the money, too — but that doesn't mean she doesn't appreciate the high life. She confessed,
"Going from nothing to everything is pretty amazing."
"Being broke sucks and being rich is a lot better!"
Erika's calling to Tinseltown was apparently a solo expedition. And she made the big move
from the East Coast without her son, Tommy Zizzo. She revealed during a since-deleted
interview with "Juicy Scoop" in 2016 that her son was just 3 years old when she ditched
the concrete jungle to become a California girl.
The reality star explained she talked it over with her first husband, Thomas Zizzo, agreeing
that Tommy would stay with his dad in New York City and go to school. That revelation
had some, including All About The Tea, accusing Erika of having "abandoned" her son, something
the star denies.
"Don't ever bring up my kid again."
While it appears that Tommy didn't attend Erika and Tom's wedding in 1999, the mother-son
duo later reconnected when Tommy made the jump to California, and moved in with his
mom. Erika told the Daily Dish in 2017,
"It's nice to hear him come home. It's nice to hear him come off duty and I can see his
car in the driveway or I hear him walk up the steps. To me, I sleep a little better
at night just knowing that I know where he is."
Another day, another legal drama. Erika found herself on the wrong side of the law in January
2022 when her company, EJ Global, was suspended from trading. It was shut down by the California
Franchise Tax Board, with Radar reporting that can happen for several reasons — including
not filing tax returns, or not paying the fees involved in said taxes. Even worse news
for Erika? She legally wasn't allowed to shut the business down or sell it until she addressed
the issues.
"Everything costs money. This s— is expensive."
Assuming the issue revolved around non-payment of an annual $800 tax, Erika's lawyer hit
back in a statement, noting:
"We did not receive any notice of the new suspension, and we're trying to determine
the basis. If that’s the case here, it will be rectified and this will be much ado about
nothing."
EJ Global was founded in 2008, with Tom Girardi as CEO. Erika then became CEO in 2020.
An obvious queen of glam, Erika is almost as famous for her long, blonde locks as she
is for her sassy comebacks. So, a business venture into the world of hair extensions
would seem like a sure fire hit, right? Wrong.
"I love the snatch-back high ponytail."
"Which gave me a bald spot."
The star launched her line, Pretty Mess Hair, in December 2021. And as she told People at
the time,
"I've definitely had quite an interesting year and being a part of a new business venture
is both exciting and refreshing. It gives me butterflies. This is a new chapter of my
life and I'm grateful to be moving in a glamorous, wonderful new direction."
But it didn't take social media long to fire back. The extensions were quickly slammed
on platforms like TikTok, where users called the line overpriced — with some looks topping
$700! Others took to the comments section of Erika's Instagram to call out the star,
with one writing,
"Too expensive — you can buy these exact same extensions on Amazon — save your money
hunny."
Twitter was equally awash with criticism, with one person asking,
"Erika Jayne is selling 200g hair extensions for $710. Is that a JOKE?"
Is Erika in with the paps? Well, that's the rumor! She's been accused more than once of
calling the paparazzi to get snaps of her while out and about — in some unexpected
places.
"I mean, you've been to my house. Paparazzi outside my house every day."
One of the most notable cases came in September 2021, when Erika was suspected of setting
up candid shots while shopping at TJ Maxx. Ronald Richards — the lawyer going up against
Erika amidst the Girardis' well-known embezzlement case — posted to Twitter,
"Instead of creating staged press outings at TJ Maxx, just return some of the $. No
one drives to Pasadena when the closest TJ Maxx is 2.5 mi from the luxury rental. Locals
would know!"
The idea that Erika could have set up the snaps was doubled down on by Radar, who noted
the paparazzo appeared to be inside the store with her — and Erika seemed fine with them
snapping away as she browsed.
But that wasn't the first time the star has been accused of candid pictures that might
not actually be so candid. In January 2021, when "The Reality Reading Rainbow" podcast
suggested that snaps of Erika visiting KFC appeared to be staged, Richards noted to the
outlet,
"[It's] a theatrical performance to try to pretend that she is cutting back on her expenses."
Erika hasn't exactly escaped allegations she may not always tell the truth, only the truth,
and nothing but the truth. One of the most infamous cases on "Real Housewives" came in
February 2016, when Lisa Rinna described Erika as being someone who "tosses honesty out the
window," adding,
"There are definitely two distinct sides to Erika."
The fallout came after Erika gossiped to Yolanda Hadid about Lisa's personal life, with Erika
initially denying she was involved, claiming in a blog for Bravo,
"First off, I am not a p—- or a liar."
Later, former O.C. Housewife, Kelly Dodd, branded Erika as a "liar" during a September
2021 interview with Us Weekly, alleging,
"I think she's an absolute liar. You see it on the show, they catch her in so many lies."
Sutton Stracke had a similar take on her co-star. When asked by Us Weekly if she thought Erika
was "a liar," she replied,
"Well, yeah 'cause she lied. We know that. She will never admit that and I'm never gonna
come off of how I see it."
Erika's no wallflower. In fact, she's pretty much the opposite. The star has made plenty
of noise since becoming a Housewife in 2016, which, naturally, featured a whole lotta feuds
and some shady remarks.
"You finally have to say how you feel."
While there are too many sassy comments to even list, those who have felt Erika's wrath
over the years include Lisa Vanderpump, Danielle Staub, and Denise Richards. In fact, all of
her co-stars have had some shade thrown at them once or twice. Ahead of the Season 11
reunion episode, Erika even suggested to Bravo that she was the star of the show, claming,
"Basically nobody else did anything."
Another example was when she appeared to use Instagram to call out Sutton's intelligence
by likening her to the Scarecrow in "The Wizard of Oz." This all went down in a September
2021 episode of the show, in which the two fell out. Taking to her Instagram Stories
as the episode aired, Erika shared a meme from the classic movie.
"How can you talk if you haven't got a brain?"
"I don't know. But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't they?"
There's a saying that you shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you. But even so, back in
2016, Erika came for the necks of fans of reality TV. It all started with a Twitter
user calling out the Housewives, writing,
"They are all the same. Mature & classy women don't do reality shows."
"Feel yourself a little bit…Feel it. Own it. Rich b—-es unite!"
Having been tagged on the original post, Erika responded,
"Mature and classy women don't watch and comment on reality shows either."
Then in October 2020, things boiled over again after Erika reposted a collage made by a Bravo
fan account that featured her, Robyn Dixon, and Lisa Rinna donning the same outfits while
being dubbed the Pink Ladies from "Grease." Erika then shared the same image on her account,
crediting Kyle Richards. But when the original creator asked for credit, Erika wrote,
"The way to get more 'credit' for your 'ideas' is to come up with your own and stop leaving
comments on my page about how you feel wronged. These images do not belong to you. Now go
make some interesting s— that I can promote."
Erika's got a pretty confusing childhood timeline — one that's been exposed by the blogosphere.
And one of the biggest sources of contention stems from her admission during a March 2017
episode of "Real Housewives," in which she claimed she spent a lot of her childhood in
her grandparents' home in Georgia.
"There were so many good times here. So many Christmases, birthdays — so it's great,
and it's emotional at the same time."
However, things didn't quite add up. Erika had claimed her grandparents bought the home
when she was 17 — a little late to have childhood memories there. Plus, she was 18
when she moved to New York City, got married and had a baby. By the time she was in her
mid-20s, she moved to California. It's a sweet story, but we're just not sure how much time
she actually spent at her grandparents' place in Georgia.
It sounds like Erika's diva side might rear its head a little bit more often than most.
Enter Amir Yass, who claimed he worked with Erika as a member of Diana Madison's PR team.
And on his social, he described Erika, noting:
"She was a motherf—ing nightmare."
He elaborated in a 2020 interview with Heavy, where he recalled meeting Erika for the first
time and introducing himself. He claimed she was done with him from the get go. When Yass
told Erika it was time to do the live show she was booked to shoot, she allegedly responded,
"Don't tell me what to do."
As he relayed to "Juicy Scoop,"
"Daggers. Staring at me, giving me dirty looks, was not interested and no longer acknowledged
me as a person. She was done."
All that, Yass speculated, may have contributed to him losing his job shortly after.
Erika has also been accused of being rude to "Housewives" producers, with Kathryn Edwards
and Camille Grammer both calling her out. Kathryn told the "Behind the Velvet Rope"
podcast in September 2020,
"[She spoke] really poorly to all the crew [and] talked down to people."
Camille then backed up those claims, writing on Twitter,
"I have witnessed it myself. If a scene doesn't suit her she yells at the crew and producers.
[It] doesn't happen all the time but she did this in the Bahamas."
In what has to be one of the biggest scandals in "Housewives" history, Erika became involved
in a serious legal drama alongside her estranged husband, Tom Girardi.
The basics of the case are that the Girardis were accused of stealing funds that belonged
to the families of those who died in a tragic plane crash. And that led to speculation that
their November 2020 divorce could have been fake to protect or hide assets.
"Who believes Erika did not know anything about what Tom was doing?"
"Can someone please back me the f— up on what I'm saying?"
Tom's law firm filed for bankruptcy around that same time, with People reporting that
he'd been accused of embezzling money to, quote, "[fund] his and Erika's lavish Beverly
Hills lifestyles" by funneling money from his firm into Erika's businesses. As for how
much money? Court docs claim it could have been upwards of $20 million.
"You would be shocked at how quickly people turn on you."
Things only got worse from there. In February 2022, Erika and her company, EJ Global, were
named in a $2.1 million lawsuit, which People reported alleged that she "aided and abetted"
Tom. Erika has always maintained her innocence, with her lawyer hitting back in regard to
the February filing:
"Erika had no knowledge or role in any of it. The focus should be on Mr. Girardi, his
law firm, and anyone else who enabled what he did."
"The more you talk about s— the worse it gets."
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