The first person we see on the new ABC News/Hulu documentary The Housewife and the Hustler is Danielle Staub, and that tells you everything you need to know about this project. The former Real Housewives of New Jersey cast member isn’t featured heavily throughout the 68-minute documentary, but really, should she be featured at all?
The documentary, which premieres Monday, June 14th on Hulu, sets out to explain what is currently going on with The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member Erika Jayne amidst her divorce from husband Tom Girardi, which was announced on Election Day in November 2020, and we’re just starting to see play out on the current season of the Bravo series. And since then, it’s only been followed up by continuous jaw-dropping news, including the fact that he’s been accused of some monster crimes, such as embezzling millions of dollars from the victims he was supposed to be protecting and fighting for.
It’s a buzzy story for sure, and anyone that considers themselves a moderate to superfan of Bravo has found themselves even more shocked anytime new information about this couple has been revealed in the last seven months, though this documentary is unlikely to do the same. There is little to no real new information (after all, this is an ongoing legal case) presented here, particularly in regards to Erika and her potential involvement. What this documentary does do well though is cut through all the legalese and clearly explains just how horrific these allegations truly are.
The Housewife and the Hustler focuses on the victims, in every sense of the word. These are the people that have lost the lives of loved ones and literally the skin off of their bodies, not to mention the millions of dollars they were owed, as they share their stories about Girardi and how he may have hurt them in major ways. Hearing their firsthand accounts is sobering and shocking, and quite frankly, not at all fun.
Legal experts and those that have worked with Girardi also paint a clear picture about how influential he was in his career, especially in some very high-level places, and give more background on the man who claimed to be very camera-shy on RHOBH. You’ll have to make your own guesses as to his motives or potential mental decline, but either way, it’s pretty rough.
Which brings us back to Staub, not quite the best authority on this matter, though neither are podcast hosts Dana Wilkey, who some may remember from early seasons of RHOBH, and Heather McDonald, who also chime in. Wilkey acts as some sort of expert on Erika, which…ok? If you say so? Of course the recent legal troubles of Jen Shah from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and Teresa Giudice from The Real Housewives of New Jersey are mentioned here (which, look, three is a trend), and so those who are general crime doc fans or don’t watch Housewives will certainly be intrigued by this story. But those with any discernment won’t.
It’s not easy to watch back clips of the Bravo show or previous interviews where Erika talks about money and gives tours of her overflowing closet. If you’re wondering how that looks in this context, well, a wise woman once said, “Not well, bitch!” It feels very sour to look at her fashion, lifestyle, music career, and general self-righteousness about it all through this lens. As you can imagine, the footage of Tom shown here in relation to his marriage and her involvement on the show is also not a great look.
However, The Housewife and the Hustler is certainly an important supplemental watch to those of us that are going to have our eyes wide open in regards to what’s to come on the show. I’ve been skeptical about how much they will actually show or explain due to Erika’s general closed-offness we’ve gotten used to in past seasons, not to mention the wildly sensitive nature of this situation. But this documentary made me believe that maybe RHOBH will be the place where we get the most information on this case, outside of the courtroom. At least we’ll be able to see for ourselves how she’s handling it all, what her reactions are, and um…what she’s wearing?
Again, there’s not a lot of concrete evidence presented here in regards to Erika and her potential involvement, which remains a mystery and maybe even more so after this documentary. It should be about the people that have been and are still currently suffering. What is crystal clear is Tom’s power and impact, and exactly how detrimental his actions have been to so many people that depended on him. The bottom line is that underneath the jewels and designer clothes and heavily-edited snippy arguments, this is not a fun situation. Your heart will break for the people that have been wronged, and while it remains to be seen if Erika is one of them, she is most certainly not the worst off in this matter. The only thing we can know for sure is that there’s no reason to ever include Danielle Staub.
Stream The Housewife and the Hustler on Hulu