Erika Jayne and Tom Girardi’s legal woes are at the center of the new documentary, The Housewife and the Hustler, and many viewers are speaking out about the reality star couple’s alleged scandals.
Jayne, who announced her split from Girardi in November, is known for her role on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, while Girardi is a former lawyer. The new ABC News doc, which dropped on Hulu on Monday, delves into the details surrounding Girardi’s alleged embezzlement.
Those interviewed for the exposé claim the couple were “blowing money left and right,” just before they were accused of staging a divorce, allegedly as part of a complex scheme to embezzle money from plane crash victims, among others.
While the hour-long doc included a number of interviews with alleged victims of the supposed embezzlement — as well as a number of people who are close to the couple — one of the doc’s more surprising appearances came from former Real Housewives of New Jersey star Danielle Staub.
Staub’s connection to Jayne is tenuous, and she even admits as much in her interview for the doc, sharing, “Erika Jayne, I have seen on the show, and I also worked with her on Watch What Happens Live one or two times. Didn’t get the best vibe from her… I know a lot of fake people, and it turns out, she’s just one of them.”
However, Staub had some pointed barbs directed toward the Real Housewives franchise itself when she took to Instagram to share her thoughts on the doc — which she said was “extremely disheartening!”
“Yet here we are @bravotv continues to support the Real crimes of Housewives Franchise,” Staub wrote. “This isn’t entertainment! it’s the lie Bravo tells you to create a storyline. Which ironically is not reality! Bravo bends and manipulates the truth instead of simply Allowing #reality to be the storyteller.”
Staub went on to call out Teresa Giudice specifically, and criticized Bravo for how they continued to work with her after she pleaded guilty and served prison time for multiple counts of fraud.
“If the franchise continues to pay cast and promote their fake lives, so many more crimes against society will be committed! In #reality This will effect more civilians financially, emotionally, physically, and mentally!” Staub wrote.
Meanwhile, many fans seemed to have an issue with Staub being involved with the doc, considering how little she has actually been involved in Jayne’s life, and is in no way related to the legal scandals that are at the crux of the special.
