Erika Jayne opened up to ET about her ongoing legal woes on Wednesday, saying she never thought she’d be in a situation so complex.
Erika Jayne opened up to ET about her ongoing legal and personal conflicts, saying she never thought she'd be in a situation so complex.
The 50-year-old Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star has been ensnared in a legal battle concerning her divorce from her now-estranged husband, Thomas Girardi, and their alleged embezzlement of money that was meant for the families of the victims in the fatal Lion Air plane crash of 2018.
She's also been the subject of increased media attention surrounding her feud with fellow RHOBH star Sutton Stracke, who allegedly spread rumors surrounding Jayne's involvement in the lawsuit while the group was filming season 12.
"It's not a good place to be and I feel like the court of public opinion is also hard to navigate because people don't have all of the facts, and they tend to gravitate towards sensationalized headlines," Jayne told ET's Denny Directo.
"I think people have sort of dehumanized me into this place," she said, saying that the public sometimes seems to think she doesn't care about the severity of the claims made against her, "which is not the case. I'm fighting literally for my life." Though the last two years have brought intense scrutiny, she sees a light at the end of the tunnel. "Some of the immediate pressure has been lifted and time has gone on," she said. "I'm going to keep smiling."
Though she described her and Stracke's relationship as "fragile," Jayne says there's hope for a calmer future. "We're not going to be forced into kumbaya," she said, but she's confident they may be able to work through some of their issues. "Work that out at our own... timing, not everyone else's," she said.
This week, fans saw lighter moments between the two of them when they bonded over dating apps together. "I think that she's got you know big balls to be on the app," Jayne said of Stracke, joking that she needs a vetting process "almost like a presidential candidate" for herself before agreeing to a date.
Besides, Jayne also added that she's still focusing on herself for now. "I think that going to therapy and really doing the work and looking at yourself and talking about it and confronting it is the best thing I can do for myself," she said.
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Wednesdays on Bravo.
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