Erika Girardi Reveals She Contemplated Suicide ‘Many Times’ During Tom Girardi’s Legal Troubles

Erika Girardi gets candid about the effect of Tom Girardi’s legal controversies on her mental health.

During the two-hour documentary on Wednesday, Erika Jayne: Bet on the blondethe The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, 52, admitted she had previously considered suicide as the world – and her friends – turned against her.

“For years there was nothing hopeful on the horizon. Then you think, ‘Well, why am I here?'” she said. “I thought about killing myself many times. I would talk to my son, I would say, ‘I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to be here’.”

Fortunately, Erika’s son Tommy Zizzo – whom she had during a previous relationship – talked her out of it.

“He was like, ‘…Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to dig your heels in and you’re going to fight like a grandma and you’re going to show everybody that they were wrong and you were right and then we can talk after that,'” she recalled of the response. his 30-year-old son. “But until then you will fight.”

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Erika Girardi. Leon Bennett/WireImage

Perseverance is something Erika has been doing since she filed for divorce from Tom in November 2020 after 21 years of marriage.

Within a month, the now disgraced and disbarred attorney was embroiled in a complicated web of lawsuits related to his alleged misappropriation of more than $15 million worth of client funds for his own personal use. His legal problems spilled over to Erika, who was named in the fraud case and faced with multiple civil lawsuits for her alleged involvement in the misappropriation of said funds.

Erika denied for a long time that she had any knowledge or involvement, and in August 2022 she was acquitted in the criminal proceedings. And while she is still fighting some civil lawsuits, Erika has the court of public opinion at her back.

Erika Girardi and Thomas Girardi at the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic on June 18, 2016.

Steve Eichner/AP

Nowhere was this more clear than in season 12 RHOBHwhere Erika told her castmates, “I don’t care about anybody but me,” while being asked if she had any sympathy for the victims of her estranged husband’s alleged crimes.

Reflecting on these arguments with Garcelle Beauvais, Sutton Stracke and Crystal Kung Minkoff in Erika Jayne: Bet on the blondeErika noted that “none of them would survive in this environment that I’m in.”

“I don’t think those girls cared about how I felt, regretting the marriage and the person you were married to and the idea of ​​that person,” she said. “They care about their own skin. There was a lot of condemnation and accusations, repeated, over and over again. I had to defend myself every day.”

Cast of Bravo’s ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Season 13: Annemarie Wiley, Erika Girardi, Dorit Kemsley, Kyle Richards, Garcelle Beauvais, Sutton Stracke and Crystal Kung Minkoff.

Emily Shur/Bravo via Getty Images

Erika Girardi Has Harsh Words About Divorce, Sees Vegas Sojourn As ‘Rebirth’ (Exclusive)

Erika — who goes by the stage name Erika Jayne — got some payback for that in Season 13, demanding apologies from her co-stars for their behavior towards her.

“I got the validation of the behavior that I was looking for, which was just, ‘Hey, this is really hard and it didn’t have to be this way,'” Erika told PEOPLE earlier this month while promoting the special, which featured her return to the stage with residency in Las Vegas Bet It All on Blonde. “And that’s all I was really looking for. I got that, it’s okay. I’m moving on.”

Erika Jayne at the opening of her Las Vegas residency, Bet It All on Blonde, in August 2023.

Ethan Miller/Getty

That’s a difference from what Erika said in past seasons, when she noted that she was following those who supported her – and those who didn’t.

But that growth came with time.

“Did I keep a checklist? I did. But I got what I needed,” she explained. “Will I ever forget how they treated me or how I felt? No. Is it time to move on from that? Yes. Can I slide now because I’m human? And maybe it’s the most appropriate time, but yes, I mean, I think you remember how you felt and how people treated you when you were at your lowest. You definitely do.”

“But forgiveness is for me and I had to move on,” she added. “I could go on being miserable and angry for the rest of my life, but they go on with their lives and have a great time. And you really have to look at it that way. These people move on, and so do I. It’s not fair to hold them in the past either. If I ask them to move forward, I expect me to move forward in the way I see these people.”

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The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion part 3 airs Wednesday at 8pm ET on Bravo and can be streamed on Peacock the following day. Erika Jayne: Bet on the blonde also streams on Peacock.

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Line by dialing 988, texting “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Line at 741741 or going to 988lifeline.org.

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Source: HIS Education