Denise Richards was granted a temporary restraining order against her estranged husband Aaron Phypers on Wednesday, July 16, after alleging he “repeatedly abused” her throughout their six-year marriage.
The news has brought renewed attention to a 2020 episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills where Phypers appeared to threaten the 54-year-old actress on camera.
In the resurfaced footage, Richards and Phypers were leaving Kyle Richards’ family barbecue hand-in-hand after a tense dinner discussion. Richards warned him, “Baby, don’t say a f—— word. We’re on camera.”
“Don’t tell me what to say. I’m going to crush your f—— hand. Stop it.”
Reunion Show Response
The comment was later addressed at the RHOBH reunion, where host Andy Cohen said Bravo “got a lot of questions about” Phypers’ behavior.
“Denise, what was going on there? I believe he said he was going to crush your hand,” Cohen asked.
Richards confirmed the threat but downplayed its significance. She said Phypers didn’t remember making the comment and claimed he told her “I’m afraid of you” in “a joking way.”
Her costars weren’t buying it.
“Zero tolerance,” Sutton Stracke stated. “Zero. Unacceptable.”
Garcelle Beauvais added she was worried when she saw the clip on social media.
Court Documents Detail Allegations
According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE on July 17, Richards alleged multiple incidents of abuse by the 49-year-old Phypers, who filed for divorce 10 days earlier citing “irreconcilable differences.”
Richards included a photo of herself with a bruised eye in her restraining order request.
“Aaron would frequently violently choke me, violently squeeze my head with both hands, tightly squeeze my arms, violently slap me in my face and head, aggressively slam my head into the bathroom towel rack, threaten to kill me, hold me down with his knee on my back to the point where I would have to plead with him to get off me so that he would not kill me.”
She also alleged he hacked into her laptop and phone to download text messages. Richards claimed Phypers regularly threatened to “break my jaw” and would cry and promise to get help afterward.
Richards said she received “at least three concussions” and was “afraid” to report the assaults because Phypers “repeatedly threatened to kill himself and me if I reported him to the police.”
Recent Incidents
The actress cited July 4 through 14 as the most recent instances of abuse. Phypers listed July 4 as their separation date in his divorce filing.
On July 4, Richards claimed Phypers “screamed degrading profanities” and called her names when she asked him and his family to move out of townhouses she was renting.
On July 5, Richards alleged Phypers “grabbed both of my arms forcefully and pushed me and dragged me to the ground.”
When she “landed hard on the stairs causing me immense pain” and threatened to call police, he allegedly responded: “I would like to see the cops take me away, I will blow everything up if they try.”
Richards alleged that Phypers “owns at least eight unregistered guns” and “multiple bullet proof vests” and has “threatened to kill me and himself and the police” since their 2018 wedding.
She’s asked that Phypers pay her legal expenses and attend a 52-week batterer intervention program.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
