Erika Jayne's Ex Tom Girardi Has a Connection to Famed Paralegal Erin Brockovich
“I was on the set every day and it was a true story," Tom said.
Published Aug. 28 2024, 3:46 p.m. ET
In a story about two worlds colliding, it turns out that The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne's ex, Tom Girardi, has a connection to the famed paralegal Erin Brockovich, who was portrayed by Julia Roberts in the 2000 film of the same name.
What is the link between the two names?
Read on for details about Tom and Erin and how they know one another — and why their connection has fans speculating that Erika had to know her husband's business was not on the up and up.
Tom Girardi was a big part of the 'Erin Brockovich' movie, for which Julia Roberts won an Oscar.
When Julia Roberts took home an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2001, it was because of her portrayal of real-life whistleblower Erin Brockovich.
As it turns out, Tom, the infamous former lawyer and ex of the blond Bravo staple Erika Jayne, was not only an advisor on the film per Bustle, but an actor played him on screen as well.
That's because Tom was a trial lawyer at the firm where Erin worked during the 1993 Pacific Gas and Electric Company case that made her a household name.
Indeed, he helped to win victims millions of dollars.
Tom's name was changed for the movie. He was Kurt Potter in Erin Brockovich, played by Peter Coyote.
As the disbarred former reality star told Attorney at Law Magazine in 2015 about the experience, “I was on the set every day and it was a true story. The thing that was good about it was that it did bring up a subject that nobody really gave any thought to before that time and obviously to see Julia Roberts five days a week wasn’t too bad either.”
He also said the famous case "revolutionized people’s thinking about all the toxic things they are exposed to.”
“Before that, nobody really gave a hoot or even realized there was any issue whatsoever with chemicals in the water or in the air," Tom claimed. "Then all of a sudden, people started to understand it and that’s had far-reaching effects clear up through today.”
Meanwhile, the estate of Ed Masry, the late attorney played by Albert Finney in the movie, has claimed that Tom's former firm, Girardi Keese, has not turned over settlements from nine cases as of 2021, adding to the ever-escalating disgraces being lodged at the RHOBH alum.
Fans aren't buying Erika knew nothing about Tom's shady dealings due to his Erin Brockovich connection.
Redditors are convinced that despite Erika's adamant declarations that she knew nothing about Tom's dirty dealings with clients in recent years, that cannot possibly be true.
"When the film was released, there were articles about how the victims shown in the film hadn't been paid all their compensation that Tom won for them. That the victims were still waiting for payouts, years later," a Redditor claimed about the Erin Brockovich movie.
"Are we to believe that over 20 years of marriage she didn't Google her own husband? She didn't hear anything about his shady dealings?" the incredulous social media user then demanded.
