One of the earliest legal disturbances in the reality TV franchise pointed to Kandi Burruss and Kim Zolciak’s 2013 dispute over the latter housewife’s song “Tardy for the Party.” After co-writing and producing the track, which was released in 2009, Burruss long claimed on The Real Housewives of Atlanta that her co-star withheld royalties generated from the song’s success.
In March 2013, Burruss filed a lawsuit against Zolciak that claimed she put out and sold the song “without [the] plaintiffs’ authorization, license or consent.” Ultimately, the lawsuit was dismissed seven months later, but never forgotten in the spiral of Real Housewives legal lore.
Teresa and Joe Giudice’s bankruptcy fraud case was captured on The Real Housewives of New Jersey from start to finish. After joining the first season of the fourth installment in the franchise (where she notoriously paid what looked to be $120,000 in cash for furniture on-camera), the former couple filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in October 2009, a few months after season one finished airing. Fast forward to July 2013, and the Giudice’s were charged with bank and bankruptcy fraud.
The fallout of their indictment was captured on season six, including when they entered a plea deal in March 2014 and their months later October sentencing. Teresa received 15 months in prison while Joe was sentenced to 41 months. Filming on RHONJ paused while Teresa was away for 11 months and resumed on the morning of her release on season seven.
Marking the first major legal affair of the Real Housewives, Teresa’s case, too, proved that scandal didn’t equal termination from the show. In fact, her case became an overarching thread of the New Jersey-spinoff, paving the way for many more scandalous cases in the franchise to come.
Phaedra Parks didn’t endure any legal troubles herself, although her ex-husband Apollo Nida’s journey to prison was showcased on season seven of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Nida pled guilty to conspiring to commit mail, wire and bank fraud in May 2014.
At the time, United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said he and others “participated in a sweeping fraud scheme that exploited many segments of the financial system, including phony claims submitted to federal and state agencies, loans secured by vehicles, and even basic identity theft associated with stolen checks.” Nida was sentenced to eight years in prison two months later. In October of that year, Parks announced they were getting a divorce.
Like most of the Real Housewives’ legal cases, Luann de Lesseps’ infamous 2017 arrest became a central storyline on season 10 of The Real Housewives of New York City. The housewife was arrested in Palm Beach on Christmas Eve in 2017, where she was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, disorderly intoxication and corruption by threat.
Following the incident, she entered rehab. The footage from her arrest was subsequently shown on RHONY, where she can be heard telling an officer, “Don’t touch me, I’m going to kill you.”
In July 2018, her ex-husband and two children filed a lawsuit against her pertaining to their divorce contract, and de Lesseps checked into rehab for the second time that same month. A month later, she accepted a plea deal to avoid jail time tied to the December arrest which included a year of probation. However, she failed an alcohol test in April 2019, which saw her appear in front of a Palm Beach judge the next month, where the terms of her probation were made more rigid. Closing out the case, De Lesseps went on to complete her probation in August of that year.
Beverly Hills housewife Dorit Kemsley fell into legal trouble in 2018 when her former business partner, Ryan Horne, filed a lawsuit against her stemming from their business, Beverly Beach. Horne alleged Kemsley owed him $205,000 that he loaned her to start the swimwear line.
Attracting more eyes onto the suit, in a now-viral 2018 video, a woman chased Kemsley around a pool, questioning her about the alleged money she owned Horne. The footage was notably taken while she and her Real Housewives co-stars were on a trip to the Bahamas. In the clip, the woman asked Kemsley, “Why don’t you pay back Ryan Horne the money that you owe him you cheap bitch?”
Despite the legal problems affecting Kemsley’s life, she — nor the women on her cast — discussed the matter on season nine, though the post’s virality prompted Andy Cohen to subsequently ask about the matter in interviews at the time. During the season 10 premiere of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Dorit revealed they settled, putting a cap on that mostly offscreen legal matter.
Ashley Darby’s ex-husband Michael Darby was the talk of the town on The Real Housewives of Potomac season four. Michael was charged in September 2018 with felony assault and misdemeanor improper sexual contact after a cameraman from the show alleged he grabbed his butt. In October of the same year, the charges were dismissed citing insufficient evidence.
However, discussion around the matter didn’t end there, as Bravo aired footage taken during the alleged incident. In said clip — that was shown on the show — Michael can be heard laughing and telling the camera operator, “Hey bud? You alright?” The cameraman then responded, “Please don’t do that,” to which Michael said, “Okay.” The cameraman repeated, “Please don’t do that,” and Michael, again, responded, “Okay.”
While charges against Michael were ultimately dropped, the incident became a major talking point throughout RHOP season four. Plus, the cast of Potomac alleged during the reunion special that they had observed similar behavior from him in the past. Michael denied all allegations.
“Producers have told us you have done that to them,” Gizelle Bryant claimed, to which Robyn Dixon corroborated: “I was told the same thing, that the same night that Michael grabbed Andrew’s butt, he also went around and grabbed their butts.”
Tom Girardi’s legal woes are no easy feat to dive into, and neither is explaining how Erika Jayne may be connected to his case. On Nov. 3, 2020 (the day of the U.S. presidential election), the Beverly Hills housewife filed for divorce from her husband, Girardi. Roughly a month later, a lawsuit was filed by class-action law firm Edelson PC that claimed Jayne’s divorce filing was a “sham” to hide embezzled funds from families of victims of the 2018 Lion Air Flight 610 plane crash.
From there, a slew of lawsuits and continued conversation around their legal problems began. A longtime personal injury lawyer, Girardi’s mental state swiftly declined after the suit was filed, and his brother was granted as his temporary conservator in February 2021. He was diagnosed with dementia a month later. In June, a documentary centering on the scandal was released featuring recounts with Girardi’s victims.
Jayne’s divorce filing and the beginning of her sticky legal situation was depicted on season 11 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, where she argued her innocence. Since then, Jayne’s attachment to Girardi has — and likely always — will be a hot topic on RHOBH. During season 12, the housewife was critiqued for her lack of emotion for his victims, and she admittedly grappled with the stress by mixing alcohol and antidepressants.
In July 2022, Girardi was disbarred, and in August 2024, he was found guilty of stealing at least $15 million from former clients. A key piece of his case stems around the fact that he misappropriated funds to fund his and Jayne’s lifestyle, the U.S. Attorney’s office argued. Girardi was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison in June 2025.
While as of late it appeared Jayne had walked away from Girardi’s legal woes unscathed, she is expected to appear on trial in early 2026 over $25 million that his former law firm allegedly spent on her. Jayne has not been found legally liable or tied to her husband’s wrongdoings, though the state of her civil legal woes is currently unclear.
As the newest addition to the Real Housewives franchise, The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City has been plagued by scandal from its beginning due to Jen Shah. Season two began airing in late 2021, and in a first for the series, Homeland Security arrived at the scene of Heather Gay’s business (where the cast was congregating to head out on a girls trip) in search of Shah. She fled said scene prior to their arrival, claiming her husband was in the hospital, though it’s all but confirmed she was tipped off on camera, a chilling moment in the franchise where she visibly locked eyes with the camera and had Whitney Rose subsequently take off her mic.
Shah was indicted on two charges in March 2021, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Her indictment noted that she “carried out a wide-ranging telemarketing scheme that defrauded hundreds of victims… many of whom were over age 55.” Throughout the entirety of season three (which aired in late 2022-2023), Shah claimed her innocence. However, in real time, she had already pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in July 2022.
In early 2023, Shah was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison. The former RHOSLC star is currently serving her time, which has since been reduced, as she’s set to exit prison in late 2026.
Shah’s fraud scheme is certainly the largest legal scandal to play out on the Real Housewives, one that, like Jayne, inspired a Hulu documentary. With roughly a year left in prison, some still wonder if Shah will rejoin the cast of RHOSLC this time next year when she’s free. Would Bravo be willing to weigh the risk of inviting Shah back to one of their most successful franchises, merely for shock-value? The Hollywood Reporter asked NBCUniversal’s unscripted boss Noah Samton, who said no is “even thinking” about it yet: “Jen’s not even out of jail yet, right? So, yeah, we’re not there. But of course, if I was a fan, I would be speculating the same thing.”
Shannon Beador has faced the brunt of a few legal issues in the past few years. In September 2023, she was charged and arrested with one count of DUI and another singular count of hit and run following a drunk driving incident that saw the housewife allegedly crash into an apartment complex in Newport Beach. (She fled the scene after the crash.)
In November, Beador was sentenced to three years probation and 40 hours of community service. She pled no contest to misdemeanor DUI charges to dismiss the misdemeanor hit and run charge. The case was shown during season 17 and 18 of The Real Housewives of Orange County, though that was not the end of her legal problems.
After Beador received her sentence, she and her ex-boyfriend, John Janssen, went their separate ways. However, this was no regular breakup, as Janssen filed a lawsuit against her in March 2024 after claiming she hadn’t paid him $75,000 he was owed. The fallout of their dispute was, too, captured on season 18 of RHOC (his new girlfriend and former OC housewife Alexis Bellino even joined the group as a “friend of” to drive that storyline), and the two later settled in November of the same year.
The most recent and unfortunate unlawful Real Housewives case centers around the Grande Dame herself. Just as season nine of The Real Housewives of Potomac was gearing up, Karen Huger was charged with a DUI and DWI linked to a March 2024 car crash. Throughout the entirety of that season of RHOP (like most of the Real Housewives who face legal issues), she professed her innocence, though her two-day long December trial proved otherwise.
Huger was found guilty on the outlined charges (plus a few others), and was sentenced to two years in prison, with one suspended, meaning she will only serve one in jail. She is currently serving her time, though the most devastating aspect of her case is that this was her fourth DUI conviction. Plus, the accompanying bodycam footage that was released from the night of her crash was incredibly unflattering, juxtaposing the innocence she claimed throughout RHOP season nine.
As outlined, after claiming she was innocent, the footage taken by police corroborated the allegations that Huger was overly intoxicated on the night of the crash. Throughout the clips, she referenced her status garnered via the Bravo series, even telling an officer, “When you Google me, you’re going to be so ashamed of yourself.” Plus, she later name-dropped her title of the “Grande Dame” — and her closeness to Andy Cohen. “I don’t know what the fuck that’s about, Andy Cohen did that,” she could be heard saying in the video.
Huger was released on Sept. 2, though it’s unclear if she will have much (or any) involvement on RHOP‘s upcoming 10th season. She was notably missing from the cast list, because she was in jail while filming occurred, though Andy Cohen told TMZ he would be “speaking with her imminently” amid her release. Plus, when asked if the Potomac housewife would return to the show, Cohen replied, “I hope so.”