Reali-TEA Crime Stories: Illegally Blonde - Erika Jayne & Tom Girardi

00:00:03
Speaker 1: Reality with the King is hosted by me, Carlos King. I'm an executive producer who have produced some of your favorite shows from the Real Housewives in Atlanta, New Jersey and my own creation, The Love and Marriage Franchise and Bell Collective. Every episode we recap reality television from The Real Housewives Franchise to The Bachelor or Selling Sunset, in addition to celebrity guests, whether in the unscripted space or scripted as well. Hey, rain Drops of today's episode of Reality Crime Story Baby. Along with my co host Cortney Parker, we have to get into this week's topic, which is the fall of Tom Girardi, who we all come to note. Yes, his his personality was you in the movie that starred the beautiful Julia Roberts Aaron Prokovich, but he is known as Erica James's husband. So Cordie and I today are going to talk about exactly what's going on with his case, because listen, you have to be living under rock to know what Erica Jane has been going through for the past couple of years, not only in her real life but on the real house spots of Belly Hills where a lot of the girls on the show question whether or not she knew what was going on with Tom Gerardi, who was recently found guilty and sentenced to prisident for his crime. So, Courtney, what is going on in this case?

00:01:46
Speaker 2: Listen? This is not just another celebrity scandal. It's a systemic legal failure that exploits vulnerable clients, his family, families that were uh dealing with plane crash victims, injury workers for his own personal gain. And he wasn't just any lawyer. He was a super lawyer. He was a champion for justice whose firm was recently just disbarred and bankrupt. His downfall and the alleged misuth of those funds to prop up his reality star wife is what we're talking about today. And yes, this case intersects reality TV because of who he was married to, but the courts focuses on squarely the fraud, the deception, and the restitution and the eagle the legal ethics involved. This is not just about story, but we are the master storytellers and we're going to get into the reality crime of this illegally blonde couple.

00:03:04
Speaker 1: Not illegally blonde. Oh, according to you are a woman with words, baby so ray jobs. Let me give you all the timeline dating back to nineteen ninety nine before I talk about what he was sentenced to, So to catch all of you up. In nineteen ninety nine, Erica Tom met at Chassen's It's the Beverly Hills hotspot, where Erica is a cocktail waitress. The following year they get married. I know that's my Erica. I'm not dating for more than a year, married me booth. So they get married. At that time, Tom was a high powered attorney, like I said, best known for the Aaron Brokovich case. Erica is starting her music career. Between two thousand and seven and fifteen, she launches her also ego Erica Jane Music on the charts, and at this time during those years is when Tom reportedly was funding her career with the millions of dollars through his law firm, which we have come to know today. Erica joins the Real Housewives of Belly Hills in twenty fifteen. We were able to see her jet setting lavish lifestyle right Courtney, it was like the Glitz and the Glenns.

00:04:22
Speaker 2: Was the real Housewife of Beverly Hills, like undeniably beautiful, blonde bombshell, living the life of a high powered attorney with just money flowing. Champagne, Carvier, she caviar, she was lifestyles of the rich and famous.

00:04:43
Speaker 1: Yes, and during the pandemic. In November twenty twenty, which is, you know, the early days of it, Erica fought for divorce from Tom after twenty one years of marriage, just week before lawsuits begins surfacing alleging financial frog December of twenty twenty through twenty twenty one, Tom has sued for allegedly embezzling settlement funds from victims of the Lion aircrash. Erica is named in civil suits, but matains she had no knowledge between the years of twenty twenty two and twenty twenty four. Tom not only is this barred, he's also placed under Conservative ship. Eventually ignited. Erica fights civil suits tied to the legend USA FOMPS and the Courtney. June of this year, a month ago, Tom is sentenced to seven years in federal prison Erica continues performing and working amiss public scrutiny. Now, look, I will say this, Courtney, I was the minority in the situation, and I still stand on my belief that Erica did not know what was going on. I don't believe she knew what was going on. I believe she was a wife who was able to just brief the benefits of having a high powered attorney giving you the jets, the backup dancers as a blind weave. Honey, I don't think she knew anything, Courtney. I still believe that till this day, Courtney, she is being sued for a lot of civil suits. What is going on there?

00:06:33
Speaker 2: Well, listen, what happens is exactly what happens. She has become the face of the scandal she swears she didn't know anything about, nor did she create. But here's the problem, Carlos, Erica didn't just benefit from Tom's money. She built an empire and a brand off of it. And when that money turned out to be stolen from plane crash victims and burn survivors, the glam fortune became real grimy Uh. The million dollar question that we always ask and that so many people have asked, is did she know? It's interesting that you say she didn't. I don't think she did. Even if she Even if she, if you feel like she didn't, what needs to really be discussed is why didn't she? I think sometimes we want to get into the did she or didn't she? Of it all without saying, how are you married to someone for twenty one years who is a super attorney, the fighter for justice and you not know that some of his dealings and some of that fortune was not above board? And although she wasn't officially charged, public opinion is not even really and truly solely fight it in this case. They're like, if you claiming you didn't know, then the onus and responsibility still should be on you to know. And does your ignorance is your ignorance in this respect bliss? Or do you have an obligation to say.

00:08:17
Speaker 1: That it's not.

00:08:19
Speaker 2: Well?

00:08:20
Speaker 1: I think this. I think this. I think if you look at very wealthy men or even excuse me, men of beings who do have literally a real housewife, right like I'm a housewife. I stay at home, I take care of the kids. Teresa Judais went to prison because her husband gave her papers to sign and says, sign of this dot to lie as far as taxes. She did it without reading it, and she got sentenced to prison. When fraud was committed on Jaill's behalf and Teresa was like, I had no idea what was going on, And I still to this day believe Teresa didn't I know, but she did get what some people consider a harsh sentence of one year in prison base on what's going on with Erica Jane. Listen, what I believed is this, and again this is this is you know, my opinion, and this is me just watching the show. I got a chance to meet Erica Jane as well, but she could not have been more lovely. So look, Erica Jane, like we said, is being accused Courtney of using over too twenty five million dollars for personal use, all of which came from the firm's funding. Attorney Ronald Richards and his legal team are seeking financial justice, which with me making Erica Jane pay back the money. I don't believe she knew. That's my opinion. I really do believe that. The attorney for the victims did say that we are hopeful that on June fourth. I'm sorry. The attorneys really do feel like they do have a case, but I'm not too sure if they do. But what's fascinating is Erica Jane is hitted to trial in February of twenty twenty six over a twenty five million dollar lawsuit.

00:10:32
Speaker 2: Right, it's blood money, and that's what the media is calling it. That's what the streets are even saying, Like, the reality is you're citing innocence, But innocence isn't just about what you know. It's also about what you chose to not ask. Like it gives very don't ask, don't tell, but that doesn't make you innocent. That makes you guilty somewhat by association. She built a fantasy around luxury, but the receipts were bloody. There were plane crash settlements, brown victim payouts, and she was front row at findy. So it's the perception of evil that can cause people to be judged just as harshly as the person who committed the sin or in this case, the crime. There are too many women oftentimes when they marry these high profile people that are reacting and responding to, Oh, this is just the soft life I want of the self life. I want to be kept. You mentioned the words kept, But there is a responsibility to knowing where the money is coming from, what is it costing somebody else. When you're flaunting your wealth and you're rich, is you also need to be able to back up that your riches were legitimate because you're putting your finances, You're putting your lifestyle at the forefront, whether it's by way of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills or whether just it's within your simple circle. You made America, you made viewers fall in love with the flash. So no matter what, you have a responsibility to at least own it. Own that your husband, by far was just not a good person and misappropriated the funds. Yeah.

00:12:41
Speaker 1: No, and that's the thing I've always believed that. Look, he did the crime, and as we now know, he's paying the time for it.

00:12:52
Speaker 2: Right, he.

00:12:55
Speaker 1: Alluded to have a dementia, but at the end of the day, the jury to be guilty and he has to spend seven years in jail for what he has done. Erica did have a lot to celebrate a few years ago, Courtney. She did get dismissed from a few lawsuits. But like I said earlier, she has to fight for this one that's for twenty four million dollars. Look, do you think that because this was a big topic on the Real Housewives of Billy Hills, right, Erica had some ear rings, some diamond ear rings Courtney. And the reason why it was a big topic of conversation is because a lot of the people felt that she should just give those ear rings back, like they were like, give the ear rings back. The ear rings allegedly were worth seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and she refused to give them back. She was like, these are my ear rings. They were a gift for me. I had nothing to do with it. And a lot of people felt like, what you're saying, Corney, Like there's blood on those ear rings. You know there were your husband used the stolen money to pay for those ear rings. It was it was a big topic of discussion based upon that, but it was also something that really to me show that this is something that a lot of people have deep feelings for. The gag is she did win the legal battle over the ear rings. They found that she did not have to give them up. Do you think that's the right call from the courts?

00:14:39
Speaker 2: Again, it's simple. Erica wasn't in the courtroom. She didn't take these cash settlements that were due to these families, but she was. She's been a part of all of these conversations. She didn't move the money, but she moved with the money from the glam squads to the diamond earrings seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars diamond earrings, to this money that he stole allegedly from victims and victims' families, paid for her life off of other people's pains. So just because she may have not signed the check, cashing the check and living this lavish lifestyle, because he has been found guilty, it kind of makes her again guilty by association. This was your husband. You knew where this money come came from, even though they were gifts.

00:15:39
Speaker 1: There, well, the thought it came from. If you don't, but when you know, when you know better?

00:15:46
Speaker 2: Right, when you.

00:15:48
Speaker 1: Right? Okay?

00:15:51
Speaker 2: How do you make it right? How do you consciously know that I have profited, profited off of the pain and suffering of people who have lost everything and money is due to them. So how do you and good conscience walk around with seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars of potential settlement money that was due them and just wear them in your ears or carry it with your birken bag, knowing that even though you might have been innocent and not realizing where it came from.

00:16:26
Speaker 1: You know now, you know now, you know now.

00:16:37
Speaker 2: And again, it's not just about innocence, it's not just about its. People have to be paid restitution, People have to be made aware. And there doesn't feel like where she's losing public empathy is she's going on with her life, not that she should be free, but it's still lavish. She's going on with her life to such an extent that we haven't forgotten the fact that she got She paid forty thousand dollars a month on glam, just glam. That's certain people's salary and that's what she paid to look good a month. While she was singing about expensive, I think that was the title of her song.

00:17:30
Speaker 1: It was it's expensive to be Go ahead, Courtney.

00:17:33
Speaker 2: To be me. Your rain drops are not coming from me for not knowing, Erica Jane. Now I am listening.

00:17:43
Speaker 1: This is reality with the King, and I'm Carlos King. Let's get back into the show.

00:17:49
Speaker 2: But when you have a case like this, I think it's it's really good to look at the optics and I'm all four living the soft life being kept. And I'm not saying that she planned it that way, but when the glam is funded by grief, it's harder to separate her lifestyle from the lives that were impacted by her husband's wrongdoings.

00:18:18
Speaker 1: So you're on the same page as the attorney who's representing a few of the people involved in the civil cases, Ronald Richards him and his legal team Coordiney, are seeking financial justice. They're looking to make Erica Jane pay back the money. Ronald said on Twitter, he posted this Erica James spouse that she abandoned is on his way to a defecto almost life sentence. Meanwhile, the judge in the twenty five million dollar fraudulent convenience action we filed wants additional briefing on how to try this case. Erica's defense is the money went to her personal service company, EJ Globo. This defense is definitely a loser, so her best shot is to keep delaying. Money is tight for her now and she hates paying her own legal bills. Walls keep closing. Now, look, that's an attorney he's on Twitter giving a good old housewife read you thought about that? Because look, I feel like is that the best way to argue the case By going on Twitter reading Erica her rights for the public consumption, since on Twitter there's people who just don't see it for Erica.

00:19:46
Speaker 2: Listen, if it's good enough for the President of the United States to deal with our global affairs, it's good enough for this attorney. People consume their media and attention by way social media all day long, and with respect to Erica not necessarily playing the victim but being portrayed as the villain. Here, Erica is not the only woman in the world that has been lied on or lied to by a man. The difference is most of us don't get a twenty five million dollar check deposited into a shell company with her name on it. So I don't think she is a victim. She might be a victim emotionally, but financially she's not. She gained, she benefited in a big way from this money, so you can't necessarily claim it as a gift and then claim you knew nothing about how he made his money, where his money came from, because then you divorced this man like he like they said, she abandoned her husband. And again, this is the unpopular opinion, but an opinion that's floating out there, and I can see it from both sides. She gives the appearance of her loyalty wasn't to him, wasn't to Tom, but more so to her brand, her image, and the aesthetics of being kept. She is the epitome of a real Housewives of housewife of Beverly Hills. However, what sometimes we need to really understand is when you're more loyal to your lifestyle than the truth, you might end up defending a monster or becoming the monster just to keep your closet full. That's not love, that's not co branding. That's giving the appearance of sheer evil.

00:21:54
Speaker 1: So now that Tom has been sentry is.

00:22:02
Speaker 2: Yes, because we're living in a time, in an age where everybody plays not only the fool, but everybody is is victim. They're the victim of everything. And this is a really good topic because she came with her receipts. We're not talking about little money here. We're talking about millions and millions of dollars.

00:22:30
Speaker 1: That you now know.

00:22:32
Speaker 2: You can't say, well, I didn't know, because you know now that this is some someone lost their daughter, son, father, mother behind this. These are a plane crash victims, these are burn victims. Aaron Brockovic, we all saw the movie. We all know the story. So those settlements that you hear, that is justification and vindication for these families are lying in a shell company for you. I respect her because she did use the seed money to build this brand. It's not like this woman is talentless. It's not like she hasn't allowed us to see weekend and week out season from season of her life and her journey on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. It's not like her spinoff shows and this lavish lifestyle we haven't seen come crumbling like a cookie. I say cookie because you know what I'm about to endure.

00:23:39
Speaker 1: You doing your fast, hip your fast.

00:23:42
Speaker 2: So forgive the food analogies. But there does come a time where where do you grieve? Do you just continue to shop? Where do you grieve for the victims' families? And what can you do to restore or or give or provide some kind of restitution on your ex husband? They weren't married for two years, five years, even seven years. They were married for twenty one years, So I don't know. Carlos, what do you think do you think you could have a good conscious and not give back something to pay some kind of restitution to these families just because your man was wrong.

00:24:27
Speaker 1: Well, I think you raised a good point, because what I do realize legally, when it comes to marriages, the couple you're seen as one like your husband's debts is yours and vice versa. So I do understand from a legality standpoint, the idea that as a married couple, you're unfortunately subjected to the legal debt or financial depth of your husband or your wives situation. Hence, Teresa JULYI is going to jail for a year because she saw it right.

00:25:07
Speaker 2: Her to say, hey, this was wrong. He did it. I participated in it, even though I wasn't conscious. I served my time, and I divorced, and now I'm going on with my life. It really does feel like in this case, this was a company she did not build. He built it. She benefited from it. When it came crashing down, she was like, well, I'm just gonna keep all of that I possess to myself and I'm gonna, you know, go on and live my life because these were gifts. And again, it just becomes a situation where you cannot you cannot. You are really guilty by association, and you should make right of it. Yeah, she believed in a man, she believed in her marriage. But what she didn't do is believe in what it gives. Is she doesn't believe in the restitution to these families should be on her.

00:26:19
Speaker 1: So with that being said, she, like I said, she is going to trial in February. We will see what happens. She was able to keep the earrings per the court, so that is a win for her. But look, I think you and I obviously on the same page, which is our hearts squat to the victims. I'm sure they're happy to see the person who rob them be sentenced to jail. That's the right thing to do, and listen our hearts, thoughts and prayers throughout. So of course, all the victims that suffer through the crimes of Tom Giraldi and when it comes to Erica Love. They are filming the new season of The Real Housewives Wi Hills, but this will be a topic of conversation because it's so like Tom Gerardy's fall from grace because he was considered this legal legend based on the Aaron Broncovic cage, which is sort of like was the case that really when you have a high profile case. The reason why a lot of attorneys do a pro bono not saying he did it in this situation, but a lot of them take on high profile cases pro bono is because the world will see you as this hero and you will get everybody in the world to spend your actual hourly legal wage to take them on as a client. And obviously it was a movie was made out of it, played by Julia Roberts. So I understand the accumulation of the wealth he received after that that case, and this is to me a crime of greed. It is a crime of when you, when you, when the money is flowing in, you want more of it and more of it, and more of it and more.

00:28:10
Speaker 2: Of it instead of just young wife especially.

00:28:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, you have a young wife you're trying to keep happy, and you know you're you're giving money to fund her lifestyle and her career. So it's it's it's unfortunate that his legacy is officially ruined. He has to spend these years in jail, and he's let me see how old he is, because I think the other thing too is sort of like will he be able to like survive he's eighty six years old?

00:28:55
Speaker 2: Listen again, let me set the record straight for the rain drops. No, I am not an attorney. I am not a prime producer. I do have a degree too, I'm not an attorney. He will probably get depending on his circumstances, because now they're saying he's suffering from dementia. He'll probably get a compassionate release.

00:29:22
Speaker 1: He will not.

00:29:24
Speaker 2: I don't see him withstanding a seven year sentence. And that's why, given the money and the crime, I think the reason he only got seven years is because of his age. With respect to her, I you know, again, feel like she mistook proximity for privilege. She thought being married to a powerful man made her untouchable and in this case, but it made her extremely vulnerable because she had no protection. She has no She's saying that she had no real legal knowledge of what was going on, and it comes across like she was just in it for the bags and the lashes, but not the lawsuits, and.

00:30:21
Speaker 1: Not in for the not in for the lastes, but not the lawsuits. Courtney Parker, the worst you are.

00:30:29
Speaker 2: But what reminds me of and it really does become a cautionary out And I'm a big component and I'm a big person on the need for women to really come into these things with their own whether it's your own. I know several successful, brilliant women that are quote unquote kept, but they are lawyers, they are doctors. Even if they're not working in the field, they are educated enough to know, like they would have met them at Brown for are now like they are savvy enough. And even if you're not highly educated or intelligent, you've become savvy enough to navigate and build something that was your own. Shout out not to someone like Camara Lee Simmons, that is a woman that not only built her own brand and business off the hills of a successful husband, but she wore her shoes and her heels and built a runway for herself and when things started to tremble, she had her own to stand up for, to stand on, not saying that Erica Jane did not do that, but to play ignorant and not establish things and literally be concerned with the frivolous things. The outcome the benefits of this case versus the burden that her husband's wrong doing wrongdoings have had to other people. That in and of itself is like how do you recover and how do you recover in the court of public opinion because these things happen. Glam with no knowledge, no backup plan, and no legal distance isn't security. It's smoking mirrors. And you know, his money gained her access to get through the door to acquire this fame, but without proper awareness it she became a really pretty liability.

00:32:47
Speaker 1: And there you have it. The worst for the Courtney park is so in closing, look, thank you rain Josh for tuning against another episode of Reality Crime Stories where we are going to every single week on bail, one fraud, one fashion icon, and a whole lot of fallout, one episode at a time. And trust me, this won't be the last time we see how fame, fortune and felony charges collide. On the next episode of Reality Crime Stories with my co hosts and co creator Courtney Parker right here on Reality with the King, we will be back with more receipts, more scandal, and more truth behind the headlines. Stay tuned because the tea is just getting started. Thank you Courtney for a great episode.

00:33:34
Speaker 2: Absolutely, thank you rain Drops, Thank you King of Reality.

00:33:41
Speaker 1: And the Queen of Words. Yeah. Reality with the King is executive produced by me Carlos King, produced by Lizzie Nimitz and a partnership with the Lack Effect Network. Can also find us on my YouTube channel at the Carlos King Underscore