‘Real Housewives’ Opens Up A Debate On Wealth, Control And Intimate Partner Abuse
Erika Girardi's divorce sparks questions from fans — and speaks to larger issues of financial control in marriage.
Jennifer Gerson
Originally published by The 19th
In December 2020, class-action lawyer Tom Girardi was sued by a class of his former defendants from the 2018 Lion Air flight crash in Indonesia. Tom Girardi, they said, defrauded them and funneled cash from settlements to his personal accounts.
Some of that cash, the lawsuits say, went to his wife, Erika Girardi, one of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and a chart-topping dance pop performer who went on to write a New York Times-bestselling memoir and star on Broadway in the long-running musical “Chicago.”
(Both Girardis will be referred to by their first names in this article for clarity.)
When the Bravo sho...