One of the more serious dramas on Erika Jayne’s plate at the moment – beyond feuds with her reality TV co-stars – is a $5 million lawsuit. It’s just one of several civil cases that she is named in alongside her ex, Tom Girardi, his former law firm and others. The plaintiffs say Girardi (who is currently living in an assisted living facility after a dementia diagnosis) never paid them their cut of a settlement and likewise accuse Jayne’s entertainment company of funneling those funds away. However, after new allegations surfaced this week about the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum amid the case, she hit back with claims of extortion.
Specifically, court documents obtained by Page Six showed the plaintiffs (via their legal representation) had filed a motion requesting a deadline for Erika Jayne to get her EJ Global LLC out of suspension from the tax board (i.e. to file her taxes). Supposedly, by her purposefully not doing so in past months, it is delaying the discovery process, which they deemed an “unfair advantage” ahead of the next hearing in July. Her lawyers made strong statements to the outlet in response, even going so far as to accuse the plaintiffs themselves of entering into an “illegal fee-split” with Tom Girardi.
Additionally, it was insinuated the petitioners had been extorting the former Broadway star by threatening to reveal that her bills are purportedly being paid by someone else of late. The Bravo veteran reposted part of her legal team’s scathing words to her Instagram and echoed the sentiment of feeling extorted in the caption. See below:
Erika Jayne’s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills co-star Lisa Rinna left a heart emoji in support on the post. But Ronald Richards, the attorney representing the law offices of Philip R. Sheldon and Robert P. Finn, was clearly less than enthused by the extortion claims. In a new statement to Page Six, Richards said:
Erika believes she can accuse our clients of extortion by making public statements about them but in the same breath, wants to conceal the facts that would show the falsity of this statement. We will not let this happen.
It seems that the California Superior Court found some merit to the original suspension deadline request because it ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor on Friday, May 27. The RHOBH star has now been ordered to file a report of the steps she’s taking to “revive” the EJ Global LLC by the June 27th deadline.
At the time the motion first came to light, Erika Jayne’s lawyers claimed that they were already “trying” to get her company unsuspended. As they tell it, Tom Girardi, his law firm and his accountants were in charge of all the finances regarding EJ Global and are currently in possession of any related records. And since those are all tied up currently with the other ongoing lawsuits and the Chapter 7 bankruptcy case, it’s apparently proving to be a “difficult task” to obtain the records for Jayne to file those taxes.
Season 12 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills has caught some of the former singer's real-time thoughts amidst her legal woes, with more new episodes to follow. (Catch those airing on Wednesdays on Bravo or next-day with Peacock Premium.) And in her latest (non-social media) update, she called out co-star Sutton Stracke’s on-screen behavior before eventually revealing that she’s feeling slightly more optimistic about her situation. Though another lawsuit with Erika Jayne’s name on it was quickly replaced one after it was dropped. We'll just have to wait and see how things pan out for the embattled reality TV star.
