Credit: Robert Smith/INSTARimages
Erika Jayne met with a number of Thomas Girardi‘s alleged fraud victims over the weekend.
After being accused for years of lacking empathy for those impacted by her estranged husband‘s reported crimes, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, 52, was spotted at Los Angeles’ Valley Inn Restaurant for a Paul’s Ice Cream event as she also commented on Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky‘s marriage drama.
“I’m going to let Kyle really explain, but they’re not splitting,” Erika shared with Billboard magazine, via TikTok, of Kyle and Mauricio’s alleged separation.
“They have had a very hard time. They’ve acknowledged that,” she continued. “And I think it’s best that she, throughout this season, tells her own story. Because I remember when I was going through my divorce/disaster scandal, there were a lot of people speaking that really didn’t know what I was going through. And they filled in the blanks and I don’t want to do that for her.”
“I just know that it’s been very hard, and you’ll get to see that. And she will be able to explain herself, and that’s where I’d like to leave that,” Erika added, confirming the marital strife will be chronicled on RHOBH season 13.
As for her time with the alleged victims of her 84-year-old former spouse, who currently resides in an assisted living facility, Erika attended the event, which was held by a company founded by Kathy Ruigomez, mother of burn victim Joseph Ruigomez (whose $11 million settlement was reportedly pocketed by Thomas), and ex-Girardi Keese employee Kimberly Archie, with an “open heart.”
“I came here with an open heart to listen to what’s going on, hear what happened and figure out how to be a part of how to move forward together in a way that’s beneficial for all victims,” Erika told Page Six on July 16.
Erika Jayne meets with victims ex Tom Girardi allegedly defrauded: ‘Came here with an open heart’ https://t.co/xoXNmrIp9h pic.twitter.com/YQ18Zb4KPA
— Page Six (@PageSix) July 16, 2023
In addition to speaking with the reported victims of Thomas’ fraud crimes, including allegedly stolen settlement funds, Erika filmed a sit-down interview with the Los Angeles Times.
“They looked very serious but engaged during their discussion,” an eyewitness told Page Six, stating Erika was in “good spirits.”
Among those at the event with Erika were Josie Hernandez, who hired Thomas’ team after a number of failed surgeries to treat “incontinence issues,” and Nancy Marston, who worked with Thomas on a case surrounding lottery winnings.
The NoFilterWithZack Instagram page also shared some video footage of Erika posing with the women Tom is accused of defrauding.
“I think we’re moving on, and I think that maybe we could help each other,” Nancy said of herself and Erika. “We can help some of the victims.”
As for Kimberly, she was happy to see Erika’s interaction with those impacted by Thomas.
“I think that it’s even difficult for some attorneys and people who prosecute these kind of cases to understand it. So I think it would be irrational to think Erika knew,” she admitted. “I never thought she stole the money or anything like that. My only thing was really just how it came across to the victims, and now this erases any of that obviously because she’s making a concerted effort to make the victims feel better.”
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 13 is expected to begin airing on Bravo sometime this fall.