Erika Girardi: Did Tom Girardi buy her way onto RHOBH?

Was Erika Girardi only on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills because Tom Girardi wanted to push the Erika Jayne character on us?

During a recent episode of the #NoFilter with Zack Peter podcast, he proposed a question about how Erika Girardi got her spot on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.  The episode was titled “Tom & Erika Girardi: Deep Dive Into the Scandal… Did he buy her spot on RHOBH??”  So, did Tom Girardi buy her way onto the show in order to increase her popularity?  Based on some of the evidence provided by Zach, it seems very likely.

If you recall from Erika’s first few episodes on the show, Erika’s connection on the show was apparently that she was friends with Yolanda Hadid.  Once you saw Erika and Yolanda interact, it was clear that they had never hung out prior to Erika joining the show.  Lisa Vanderpump sort of hinted at the fact that this was not true.  It always comes back to Lisa, doesn’t it?

“Rock and soft porn”

The L.A. Times article titled “The legal titan and the ‘Real Housewife’: The rise and fall of Tom Girardi and Erika Jayne,” reminded us of one dark evening in 2011 where Tom apparently screened one of Erika’s videos at a fancy party.  Tom threw a holiday party for some friends and author Roger M. Grace blessed us with this tidbit that really set the scene:

"What was beamed on the screens was a woman, scantily clad, gyrating. One person who was present says she was wearing “too-short pants and a too-brief top.”  Another person in attendance describes the video as “rock and soft porn.”  Set at a smoke-filled party, the video, if I’m correctly advised, includes a woman partyer pouring liquor on a man’s bare chest and lapping it up.  The performer seen provocatively gyrating was Girardi’s wife, Erika, AKA Erika Jayne."

Who the heck is Erika Jayne?

So it seems that even back in 2011, Tom was forcing the idea of Erika being a star on literally anyone and everyone.  Erika joined RHOBH back in 2015 and did her best to convince everyone she was a very famous performer.  It truly seemed like she just had enough money to pay her way into clubs and onto the dance charts, because she just wasn’t that interesting.

Now that we know all of the juicy allegations against Tom, doing something like this totally makes sense for them.  Perhaps he thought it would legitimize her entertainment career and would, in turn, help make them some money in the long run.

No one really knew who Erika was when she came on the scene, and she certainly wasn’t the well-known superstar they wanted us to believe she was.  Was her role on Chicago bought, too?  Probably, based on what we are seeing now.  A lot of things about Erika’s addition to the show didn’t add up, and perhaps this is why.  Just another drop in the bucket that is the case against Erika Jayne.

Erika Girardi & The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills will be back next year on Bravo.