Erika Jayne’s ‘RHOBH’ costars were shocked to learn about her ‘f—— complicated’ divorce from Tom Girardi

• Erika Jayne called her divorce "so f—— complicated" on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills."
• It was the first time Jayne, 49, mentioned her split from Tom Girardi, 82, on this current season.
• Girardi and Jayne have been accused of embezzling millions of dollars from plane crash victims.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Erika Jayne called her divorce from Tom Girardi "so f—— complicated" as she addressed their split for the first time on this week's episode of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills."

The reality TV star is entangled in a complicated web of legal drama with her estranged husband, which won't be ignored during the current season of the popular Bravo show.

Wednesday's episode revealed that Jayne broke the news of her and Girardi's split to her costars via text on Election Day 2020, much to the surprise of her fellow castmates.

"There's so many layers to this divorce," she told them. "It's very difficult to explain."

Many of Jayne's fellow "Real Housewives" stars were shocked by the news.

"I didn't know until she sent that text to us today," Lisa Rinna says during the episode. "I instantly called her and, you know, I was just as surprised as we all were."

"We don't know what goes on behind closed doors," Kyle Richards adds.

In a preview of next week's episode, Jayne continues to discuss the split with her costars.

"I did not see it ending this way," she tells them during a dinner. "I was going to hold that man's hand until he died."

Jayne, 49, filed for divorce from Girardi, 82, in November, citing "irreconcilable differences" after 21 years of marriage.

Jayne and Girardi were accused of embezzling millions of dollars from the 'widows and orphans' of plane-crash victims in December

Girardi's law firm, Girardi Keese, represented nearly a dozen families of victims in the October 2018 Lion Air crash, in which a new Boeing 737 Max plane crashed into the Java Sea in Indonesia, killing all 189 passengers and crew members on board.

In December 2020, class-action law firm Edelson PC filed a complaint (viewed by Insider) claiming that Boeing transferred "substantial, but confidential," settlement amounts to Girardi Keese last year, but those funds were never distributed to the victims' families.

It alleges that Girardi instead kept the money "for his own purposes and doled it out to his friends and family," including Jayne. It also said the couple were using their divorce - which the complaint called a "sham" - to hide the funds.

Girardi has since been forced into involuntary bankruptcy.

Jayne's attorneys dropped her as a client this week following the premiere of 'The Hustler and the Housewife' documentary

Law firm Dinsmore & Shohl filed to withdraw as Jayne's counsel in Girardi's ongoing bankruptcy case on Tuesday, a day after "The Housewife and the Hustler" premiered.

The Hulu documentary spoke to Girardi's alleged victims and highlighted court documents that included claims Girardi gave Jayne $20 million in loans and that the reality star was subpoenaed twice to give a deposition about the couple's assets.

Peter Mastan, a partner at Dinsmore & Shohl in Los Angeles, said the "relationship of trust and confidence" between his firm and Jayne "has broken down," according to court documents obtained by Insider.

"In my good faith and Judgement, the attorney-client relationship has been irreparably damaged," he wrote. "It is no longer possible to carry on with the necessary degree of trust and confidence which is foundational to that relationship."

A spokesperson for Jayne and Dinsmore & Shohl declined Insider's request for comment.