One of Erika Jayne's old taglines on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills used to be, “I'm an enigma wrapped in a riddle... and cash.” You can take Bravo taglines with a grain of salt, but it does give you some idea of the reality star’s once very glamorous persona and lifestyle. It's all changed in the course of the last few months, following embezzlement accusations levelled against her husband, Tom Girardi. However, amidst the intense legal scrutiny over her opulent lifestyle and possible role in the accusations, Erika Jayne decided to hop on a private jet.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star filed for divorce from Tom Girardi in November, just weeks before the high-profile lawyer was officially accused of embezzling money from his clients and creditors. Girardi's law firm was forced to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and the currently ongoing case even called Erika Jayne’s innocence into question. Specifically, the special counsel involved claimed she was hiding assets meant for victims in order to fund her glam lifestyle. After which, The Daily Mail revealed pics of Erika Jayne happily about to board a private jet.
Her use of the private jet has sparked a bit of backlash online. Mostly because the move seems to directly contrast Erika Jayne’s claims on the current season of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which has suggested she lost mostly everything when she left Tom Girardi. She was shown moving into a substantially smaller rental home and bringing just her clothes and jewelry with her. So it confuses some spectators as to how she still manages the money to fly private.
Perhaps, Erika Jayne can afford to fly private jets thanks to her Real Housewives of Beverly Hills pay or whatever residuals and/or events from her music career. But according to Ronald Richards (special counsel in the bankruptcy case), Erika Jayne’s lifestyle assets are at the heart of the investigation. Supposedly, the glamorous clothes and jewelry she's been selling off and the more than $20 million in loans from Tom Girardi’s law firm are indications to those close to the case that she knew about the alleged criminal acts more than she's letting on. In her response through her legal team, Erika Jayne purported to be “cooperative” and asked that Richards’ position be reconsidered.
The private jet flight occurred only a few days after Erika Jayne suffered a serious blow in court. The judge in the bankruptcy case granted the special counsel's motion and ordered Erika Jayne’s divorce lawyer, accountant, and landlord to turn over any “key financial documents.”
The backlash over Erika Jayne’s private jet usage also comes less than two weeks after a different kind of backlash. Then, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star and Broadway performer was ridiculed for being decidedly unglamorous while she was spotted pumping gas in her car. She responded to the hoopla on Twitter, simply saying:
Goodnight Twitter, please be in full glam when pumping gas. Apparently it’s a big deal.
Erika Jayne certainly knows how to keep her cool, both on and off the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. However, following the backlash, it remains to be seen if the reality star will continue to use private jets and other amenities as the legal case progresses.
