In the Bravo-verse, this legal drama really is a tale of two cities, and two larger-than-life Housewives. Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne’s legal troubles have dominated this season. Tom Girardi, Erika’s estranged husband, allegedly embezzled $26 million in funds that were owed to his clients.
He reportedly gave Erika a $20 million dollar loan from his law firm, Girardi Keese. The funds were allegedly transferred to Erika’s company, EJ Global. Erika filed for divorce from Tom, but it was supposedly a scam to hide assets. Now Erika is being sued for $25 million, and her mascara-stained tears are flowing.
Then we have the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. The Season 2 premiere showed us what we had all been waiting for- Jen Shah’s arrest. RHOSLC viewers watched Jen and her co-stars board a party bus bound for Colorado. Jen got a phone call, and asked Whitney Rose to shut off her mic.
She told everyone that her husband, Sharrieff Shah, was ill and that she had to leave. In reality, her husband tipped her off about her impending arrest. The van was swarmed by federal agents looking for Jen. She was arrested a short time later and faces federal charges.
Jen was charged with money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Stuart Smith, Jen’s assistant, was also arrested and faces the same charges. The duo was allegedly involved in a telemarketing scheme. Jen plead not guilty, as did Stuart.
RELATED: Whitney Rose Says Jen Shah Is The Fakest Of The Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City Cast
The experience on the bus shook up the RHOSLC cast. At first, Whitney thought that the federal agents were strippers. I love Whitney.
But Jen’s behavior last season had already divided the cast. Jen got up in Whitney’s face during the girls’ trip to Las Vegas. Meredith Marks claimed that Jen had liked and reposted homophobic comments directed at her son, Brooks Marks. Meredith questioned why her bestie, Lisa Barlow, and Heather Gay were supporting Jen.
In an interview with Page Six, Whitney discussed how the casts of RHOBH and RHOSLC are dealing with these serious legal issues. “In Beverly Hills, the biggest difference is Erika’s husband is the one being accused. Jen Shah, the ‘Housewife,’ is being accused, so it’s a lot different,” Whitney explained. “While there’s a lot of similarities, it’s different.”
Whitney checks out how the Beverly Hills Housewives handle fans’ comments on their social media. She said, “Just the other day, when Lisa Rinna and some of the other ‘Housewives’ posted like, ‘Please stop sending me hate messages and death threats’ — that alarms me because I see a lot of the way that Beverly Hills is reacting,” she said.
RELATED: Whitney Rose Thought Someone Hired Strippers When Jen Shah Got Arrested
Whitney was referring to threats that Erika received. Erika posted a screenshot on Instagram of the threat, and Rinna reacted. Rinna posted on Instagram, “Be angry be scared be hurt be devastated cry feel all of the grief,” she wrote. “But please don’t threaten to kill us or our families.” The Instagram post was deleted.
“We’ve gone through all of those emotions too. It’s really hard to process the level of allegations and the emotions that come with it,” Whitney shared. “And it’s natural to be like, ‘How does this affect me? How does this affect my family?’” Score one point for Sutton Stracke!
Whitney continued, “But ultimately, we’re in this together. We are an ensemble cast and it is our job to show up the best way we know how.”
RELATED: Whitney Rose Says It Will Be Tough To Continue Being Friends With Jen Shah If She’s Guilty
TELL US- SHOULD THE RHOSLC CAST LOOK TO THE RHOBH CAST FOR TIPS?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
