Inside the biggest Real Housewives’ legal drama: from Teresa Giudice’s jail sentence to Jen Shah’s fraud charges
THE REAL Housewives’ franchises have been on the air for over 15 years – and fans have gotten to see every memorable moment the cast goes through including their legal drama.
Some of the most memorable scenes include Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah being chased by Homeland Security, as well as Beverly Hills’ Erika Jayne denying she knew about her husband allegedly stealing money from orphans.
We revisit some of the biggest legal drama in Real Housewives’ history:
JEN SHAH
Bravo fans are getting to see Jen Shah’s legal drama in real time as she faces wire fraud charges.
The mom of two was arrested in March 2021 while the cast filmed one of their first trips.
In the show, fans saw how she got an anonymous call that made her leave the bus. Moments later, Homeland Security arrived on the spot and asked about her.
In addition to Jen, police arrested her assistant, Stuart Smith – who was also featured on the Bravo show.
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They were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to legal documents, they were both accused of targeting senior citizens in order to scam them out of money in their alleged scheme.
They both pleaded not guilty to the charges and will be going to court.
ERIKA JAYNE
This past RHOBH season, Erika Jayne’s legal issues were the main plotline.
Both, the housewife and her estranged husband Tom Girardi, were sued by some of his previous clients with claims he had stolen money from victims of a plane crash.
Erika was roped in when she was accused of receiving part of the stolen money to fund her many businesses.
To this day, Erika stands by her innocence and claims Tom has no idea what’s going on due to his deteriorating state.
TERESA GIUDICE
One of the most televised legal dramas in Real Housewives history was Teresa Giudice’s. She was absent from the show after her arrested and sentenced to serve 15 months in prison.
She and her husband, Joe Giudice, pleaded guilty to 41 counts of fraud, including mail, wire, and bankruptcy fraud.
Joe also admitted to not paying $200,00 worth of taxes.
Teresa claimed she did not believe she was breaking the law at the time.
The mom of four spent only 11 months in jail and was released due to good behavior.
Sadly, her marriage did not survive the legal issues as Joe was deported to Italy and they ended their relationship.
LUANN DE LESSEPS
Back in 2017, Luann de Lesseps was arrested after she allegedly refused to leave a hotel room and shoved a police officer who responded to the call.
At the time, the RHONY star was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, disorderly intoxication, and corruption by threat.
She was able to strike a plea deal and agreed to one year of probation, 50 hours of community service, two AA meetings per week, and a Mothers Against Drunk Driving class.
She later admitted to violating her probation and was allegedly ordered to undergo weekly counseling sessions, monthly psychiatric sessions, medication for her alcoholism, and keep a breathalyzer monitoring device in her car.
KIM RICHARDS
Another housewife who struggled with addiction was RHOBH alum, Kim Richards.
The housewife was fired in 2015 after she had been arrested twice in one year.
For many seasons, she struggled with substance abuse, picking fights with most cast members, including her own sister Kyle.
The former child actor displayed erratic behavior on the first two seasons of the reality show and ultimately sought help at rehab in 2012 – just one of the multiple times she’d go to a treatment facility.
After slurring her words and other concerning actions, she admitted to Andy Cohen during her first interview since the rehab stay later that year: “I’m an alcoholic.”
In April 2015, the actress was arrested and later charged with trespassing, public intoxication, resisting an officer, and battery on a police officer at the legendary Beverly Hills Hotel.
She spent the night in a Los Angeles jail but was released the next morning on a $20,000 bond.
Just a few months after her Beverly Hills Hotel altercation, Kim was arrested once again in August 2015 for shoplifting at a Los Angeles Target store.
She was booked at a LA jail but released the following morning on a $5,000 bond.
Today, Kim looks almost unrecognizable after stepping out of the spotlight.
DORIT KEMSLEY
Another RHOBH star who has gone through legal issues has been Dorit Kemsley.
In 2019, a man named Nico Kirzis claimed he had loaned Dorit’s husband, PK, $1.2 million and never got paid back.
Court documents claimed PK had only paid him back $250,000 but the Bravo star alleged the total was discharged in a UK bankruptcy from 2011.
Their assets were frozen until their court date and $29,000 was seized from Dorit’s bank accounts.
Kirzis later dismissed the “entire action of all parties and all causes of action” with prejudice, which meant he could not refile in the future.
This could mean that the debt was paid.
SONJA MORGAN
Back in 2011, Sonja Morgan from RHONY was forced to file for bankruptcy after she found herself $19.8 million deep in debt.
She blamed her debt on a failed business deal between her production company, Sonja Productions, and Hannibal Pictures, Inc. when a movie starring John Travolta never came to fruition.
Hannibal Pictures filed a suit against Sonja and won a $7 million judgment.
Almost five years later, Sonja was finally out of bankruptcy and had repaid the production company,
CANDIACE DILLARD AND MONIQUE SAMUELS
The last season of RHOP saw Candiace Dillard and Monique Samuels get into one of the most violent physical fights in Bravo history.
The two women had been feuding most of the season until things reached a boiling point and Monique attacked Candiace during a cast outing.
The entirety of the fight was filmed and aired by Bravo with fans watching as Monique grabbed Candiace by her hair and refused to let go before chasing her through the building.
It took several crew members to separate them before things escalated.
In November 2019, both women accused each other of second-degree assault and filed claims with the District Court of Montgomery County in Maryland.
The Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office informed the Bravo stars’ lawyers that they would not move forward with an investigation in December.
Monique quit RHOP that season and she recently claimed some of her costars tried to get her fired after the fight.
She told Us Weekly: “They met off-camera and had a little meeting and I think that it was very strategic, what they decided to do.
“They looked at this as an opportunity to possibly get me off the show. They thought they had that type of power to get me fired. So that was very strategic.”
GINA KIRSCHENHEITER
Most recently, RHOC’s Gina Kirschenheiter was involved in a court battle with her ex-husband Matt Kirschenheiter after he plead guilty to domestic battery.
In April 2020, both Matt and Gina appeared in front of a judge in Orange County Superior Court.
He pled guilty to one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury of a spouse, as well as to one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud, or deceit.
It was reported that Gina was emotional and sobbed as she read her statement, sharing: “It’s hard.
“I thought I was going to die. I still get chills thinking about how I begged you to, ‘Stop. Think about the kids.’ And you responded by saying, ‘Your mom is going to die tonight.’ It echoes in my brain, and it sinks deep in my heart.
“That night, it literally felt like I was in a house with a stranger whom I’d never met before. Your eyes were completely black, and you were not Matt. It was so hard for me to believe that it was even you, but it was.”
The judge sentenced Matt to 180 days in county jail, though he does not have to serve time in jail if he completes multiple conditions for 178 days.
The conditions include wearing a bracelet monitor, finishing a 52-week batterer’s program, and completing three years of formal probation.
Additionally, he agreed to a “peaceful contact protective order” as part of the plea terms, which states he can’t harass or threaten Gina.
Gina and Matt tied the knot in 2010, while they split in 2018 and their divorce was finalized the next year.
Months after the pair split, they got into an argument that turned violent. Gina claimed that Matt “choked, hit, dragged, threw and threatened to kill her,” according to a restraining order obtained by The Blast.
He was charged with felony corporal injury – on spouse/cohabitant and felony false imprisonment affected by violence, menace, fraud, or deceit. He pleaded not guilty.
Following Matt’s arrest, the reality star was granted a temporary restraining order against him.
Gina earned a large sum of money through their divorce, as a series of court documents obtained by The Blast stated the RHOC star agreed to let Matt off the hook for child and spousal support in exchange for $230,000.
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