Real Housewives’ Legal Troubles Through the Years

Being a Real Housewife isn’t all diamonds and rosé. Several Bravolebrities have made headlines for money woes, legal drama and court cases over the years.

While some franchises tackle the lawsuits on air — including Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Teresa and Joe Giudice’s fraud case and Real Housewives of New York City’s Sonja Morgan’s bankruptcy filing — other shows try to keep the courtroom proceedings off air.

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Dorit Kemsley, for example, was accused of owing money to her former business partner in 2018. While the Beverly Beach designer was confronted about the situation during the cast trip to the Bahamas, the incident did not air on season 9 of RHOBH. The tense moment was, however, captured by onlookers and shared on social media.

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Dorit called the viral video “embarrassing” on What What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in April 2019.

“Obviously it happened, it’s all over the Internet,” she said at the time. “I was grateful that the other ladies didn’t bring it up this season. … I’m very comfortable with our position, but unfortunately my hands are tied. You can’t discuss legal issues when they are going on and I respect that.”

After Dorit’s husband, PK Kemsley, made headlines for his own legal troubles, Camille Grammer questioned the couple’s finances on the series. Dorit’s castmate Denise Richards called the discussion “inappropriate” for the Bravo show in July 2019.

“It was out of left-field. … It shouldn’t have been discussed at a table with all of us,” the actress explained on the “Juicy Scoop” podcast. “And it had nothing to do with what they were all talking about.”

Whether its covered on the series or not, there’s no denying several Real Housewives have found themselves in court over the years:

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Lisa Hochstein

After splitting from her husband, Lenny Hochstein, in May 2022, the Real Housewives of Miami star faced a legal battle with Lenny’s girlfriend, Katharina Mazepa. In July 2022, Us Weekly confirmed that the model filed a restraining order against Lisa, alleging that the Bravo personality had been harassing her since she and Lenny went public with their romance. “I have been a victim of cyberbullying, intimidation and harassment from Lisa Hochstein,” Mazepa exclusively told Us in August 2022. “Lisa denying these claims and calling them ridiculous are unfortunately just another lie and another deceptive tactic to portray herself. My attorneys and myself have evidence to back up every claim I have made in restraining order filing.”

Lisa, for her part, denied the Austria native’s allegations, telling Us: “She didn’t have any respect for my life, my children, or my family … why should I have any respect for her attempt at a sob story? I’m not going to waste my time and energy responding to a woman who is a self-proclaimed home-wrecker who does nothing but lie. She’s writing her own version of reality, and I can’t wait for my day in court to showcase the truth.”

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Jen Shah

New housewife, same drama! Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah and her assistant Stuart Smith were arrested in March 2021 for their alleged role in a nationwide telemarketing scheme.

As news of the legal trouble unfolded, a source told Us that “Jen was filming with a few of the other women present when she was arrested.” Though legal trouble is often hinted at on the Housewives franchise, fans rarely get to see the direct drama playing out onscreen.

According to the source, the Utah native’s fellow RHOSLC cast members were shocked when Jen was taken away. “The women were all about the take a trip to Colorado in the coming days. The women aren’t sure if they are still going yet,” the insider added.

Shah and Smith were booked on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Both the Housewife and her assistant face a maximum sentence of 30 years for the wire fraud charges, as well as an additional 20 years for the money laundering charges.

In a statement, HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Peter C. Fitzhugh mentioned that the luxurious lifestyle Shah showed off on RHOSLC was likely not the result of her hard work running her marketing businesses.

“In reality, they allegedly built their opulent lifestyle at the expense of vulnerable, often elderly, working-class people,” Fitzhugh said.

In July 2022, Shah changed her plea from not guilty to guilty, which cut 20 years off of her maximum prison sentence. Her guilty plea also caused the U.S. attorney to drop the conspiracy to commit money laundering charge. In January 2023, Shah was sentenced to six and a half years behind bars and five years of supervised release.

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Erika Jayne and Tom Girardi

While the RHOBH previously brushed off any headlines about the lawyer’s firm, news broke in December 2020 that the pair were being sued by class action firm Edelson PC one month after Erika filed for divorce. In the court docs obtained by Us, the former couple were accused of embezzling settlement funds intended to help the families of Lion Air Flight 610 victims, a crash that killed 189 people in 2018. The firm alleged that their divorce was “a sham attempt to fraudulently protect Tom and Erika’s money” and that they “are on the verge of financial collapse and locked in a downward spiral of mounting debts and dwindling funds.”

Amid the fraud case, Tom was also sued by his business partners Robert Keese, Robert Finnerty and Jill O’Callahan. Their firm, Girardi Keese, also allegedly owes Wells Fargo more than $882 million after failing to make monthly payments for rent, taxes, fees and more on their office.

“Erika was completely unaware of the very serious allegations that were being made against Tom in court,” the source told Us in December 2020, referring to the plane crash case. “Tom always handled all of the finances and that was how they handled things. Erika feels betrayed by Tom because she completely trusted him. She is just reeling from all of this, but make no mistake. Erika is a tough cookie and she isn’t stupid. She will get through this.”

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Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd

The restaurateurs made headlines twice in 2020 for lawsuits accusing them of breaking several California labor laws. In January 2020, former SUR employee Adam Pierce Antoine alleged that the couple were “not paying wages” “failing to pay minimum wages” or “providing meal breaks.” Several months later, Olivia Beverly Hanson filed a class action lawsuit against Vanderpump, Todd and their business partners, Guillermo Zapata and Nathalie Pouille-Zapata, for similar claims.

“For at least four years prior to the filing of this action and continuing to present, defendants have had a policy or practice of failing to pay overtime wags to Plaintiff and other non-exempt employees,” the paperwork obtained by Us stated, alleging employees “routinely [worked] over eight hours per day, 40 hours per week and seven consecutive work days in a work week without being properly compensated for hours worked in excess.”

The lawsuit also alleged that the SUR owners “accurately track and/or pay for all hours actually worked” and allegedly manipulated or edited “time records to show lesser hours than actually worked during the pay period, to the detriment of Plaintiff and other situated employees.”

Us reached out to Vanderpump and Todd for comment.

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Teresa and Joe Giudice

The Real Housewives of New Jersey stars pleaded guilty in 2014 to 41 counts of fraud, including mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud. While Teresa served 11 months in prison, Joe, who also admitted that he did not pay approximately $200,000 in taxes, was sentenced to 41 months in jail. After the former construction worker completed his sentence in March 2019, he was taken into ICE custody following a judge’s order for him to be deported back to his native Italy.

Joe, who lost the appeals in his deportation case twice, moved to Italy in October 2019. The duo subsequently split.

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Dorit and PK Kemsley

The RHOBH couple made headlines in August 2018 after they were sued by her former Beverly Beach partner Ryan Horne, who claimed he was never reimbursed the $205,000 he fronted for Dorit’s new swimsuit line. A judge ordered Dorit and Horne to mediation in January 2019, warning the twosome that the case will go to trial if they do not figure out an agreement within the year.

Dorit and PK were back in the news in May 2019 after a man named Nico Kirzis claimed that he loaned PK $1.2 million eight years prior. According to the documents, the talent manager allegedly only paid Kirzis $250,000, which covered the interest accumulated over the years, but left a balance of $1,235,573.66. Following an examination of finances, Dorit and PK’s bank account was frozen. A judge ordered that the duo’s funds remain untouched until their September 2019 court date.  

According to The Blast, Kirzis dismissed all claims against PK in October 2019. The following month, news broke that Dorit and Horne dropped all of the charges against each other.

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Kim Richards

The former child actress was arrested for public intoxication in April 2015 following a confrontation with police at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Months later, the RHOBH star was taken into custody again after she was accused of stealing close to $600 worth of items from Target in August 2015. 

Kim, who was open about her substance abuse struggles on RHOBH, was placed on three-year probation after the drama. She was also ordered to complete 450 hours of community service and to attend AA meetings. According to TMZ, Kim was officially off probation in September 2018.

Kim came under fire again in August 2018 when she was ordered to pay $266,000 in damages after her pit bull Kingsley allegedly attacked her then-neighbor three years prior. 

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Apollo Nida

Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Phaedra Parks’ ex-husband pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail, wire and bank fraud in May 2014. After completing his 96-month prison sentence in June 2019, Apollo was released and moved to a halfway house in Philadelphia. Nine days later, he was arrested again for violating his parole.

“I was disappointed, but at the same time, I don’t know if I was that shocked because he is a risk taker and I just hate it because now it’s just above all of us, only Jesus can fix it,” Phaedra told the DailyMail at time. “I can’t make him be what he doesn’t want to be. He has to want to change.”

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Sonja Morgan

The Real Housewives of New York City star filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2010. Sonja, who listed $19.8 million in debt and $13.5 million in assets on the petition, blamed her debt on a movie venture with Hannibal Pictures Inc. at the time. Nearly five years later, the Bravo star settled the case.

“It feels great. I did a great job,” she told E! News at the time. “I paid what I had to pay and it wasn’t easy, but at the same time it was an experience,” Sonja continues. “It’s nice to be free of everyone looking at my money. I finally have my financial privacy back.”

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Sheree Whitfield

The RHOA alum was sued by her divorce attorneys for lack of payment following her split from ex-husband Bob Whitfield in 2010. While Sherée initially paid her lawyers $69K for their services, she reportedly owed them a total of $165K in legal bills. The reality personality was ordered to pay the outstanding balance with interest in December 2012, per TMZ.

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Bethenny Frankel

The Skinnygirl CEO’s divorce and custody battle with her ex-husband Jason Hoppy has made headlines since their 2012 split. (They did not finalized their divorce until 2016.) While the exes reached a custody agreement over their daughter, Bryn, after a tense trial in 2014, they were back in court in 2019 after Bethenny sued Jason for full custody.

The RHONY star compared living with her ex to being in a “torture chamber” during a March 2019 hearing. 

“The conflict was day in and day out torture. Emotional, mental, phone, FaceTime, being followed, being harassed, being verbally attacked and all-out assault in every possible way — on my character, on my mental state, on my family, on my parenting, on my career, on my life,” she said at the time. “I had a padlock on my door to protect myself.”

Jason previously denied Bethenny’s harassment allegations.

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Jacqueline and Chris Laurita

The former RHONJ star’s husband’s clothing firm Signature Apparel filed for bankruptcy in 2009. The following year, the couple were accused of using the company’s bank accounts to pay for their lavish lifestyle. Radar Online reported in August 2017 that Chris was found guilty of fraud, “breaching of fiduciary duties” and “tortious interference.” As a result, he was ordered to pay $1.8 million to Signature Apparel Group.

In May 2019, Page Six reported that Chris was selling items  from their home, which was in foreclosure in both 2013 and 2015, on Facebook marketplace. “Why can’t someone write something positive about a family pulling up their bootstraps and moving on to bigger and better opportunities?” he told the outlet at the time. “What we’re doing is a good thing and is best for our families future. We are looking forward to it.” 

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Kandi Burruss and Kim Zolciak

The RHOA costars headed to court after Kandi and producer Don Vito accused Kim of denying them payment and rights to her 2009 single “Tardy for the Party.”  A judge ordered for the case to be dismissed in October 2013.

“It’s just the principal of it at this point,” Kandi told Us after the ruling. ”It’s not about the money. I’m doing great otherwise. It’s all just silly. It’s not a big deal to me.”