The image was alarming. On July 16, a photo of Denise Richards with a black eye made headlines. The pic was part of a request for a temporary restraining order against her estranged husband, Aaron Phypers, in which Denise accused the former wellness entrepreneur of repeatedly abusing her over the course of their six-year marriage, per report published by People.
“Aaron would frequently violently choke me, violently squeeze my head with both hands, tightly squeeze my arms, violently slap me in the 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 and hack into my laptop and phone and download all of my text messages,” the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum, 54, alleged in her filing, adding that the 52-year-old had caused her “at least three concussions” and alleging that he “regularly threatened to ‘break my jaw’ and would cry, beg me to stay, and promise to get help — none of which ever happened.”
Following Aaron’s shock divorce filing over the July 4 weekend — the couple had been vocal about not ever wanting to divorce on an episode of their reality show Denise Richards & Her Wild Things not long before — the split has become an ugly round of he said/she said. While Aaron called Denise’s accusations “completely false,” he launched his own counterattack — and she’s responded to his volley. “They are effectively waging war against each other,” an insider tells Star. “It’s a nightmare.” (A source in Aaron’s camp declined to comment.)
Fighting Words
Things had come to a head between the former couple over Fourth of July weekend when Denise asked Aaron and his parents and brother to move out of townhouses she owns. Aaron “got within two inches of my face,” she claimed in court documents, “screaming degrading profanities,” including “c*** w****.” The next day, during another tense exchange, Aaron “grabbed both of my arms forcefully and pushed me and dragged me to the ground,” Denise alleged. “I landed hard on the stairs causing me immense pain.” When she threatened to call the police, Aaron purportedly told her, “I would like to see the cops take me away, I will blow everything up if they try.” Denise claims he “owns at least eight unregistered guns” and “multiple bullet proof vests” and has threatened to make her “disappear,” adding that she had been “afraid” to report him.
His Side Of The Story
On July 20, Aaron had his say, claiming in an open letter to her family and friends that it was Denise who had abused him, per Page Six. “I have only ever stepped in to protect her or others — including separating her from physically attacking her daughters — always coming from a place of care and concern,” he insisted (Denise shares daughters Sami, 21, and Lola, 20, with ex Charlie Sheen and adopted Eloise, 14, who has special needs, as a baby.) Aaron went on to claim that Denise has been struggling with an addiction to Vicodin, which she mixes with Adderall and tequila. “Some of you know this has been an issue for over 20 years,” he wrote. “She’s no longer eating real meals, and I’ve witnessed her pass out from substances — putting herself and others in danger, including while driving our daughter.” In another bombshell, he also alleged that Denise was having an affair with Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test instructor Rudy Reyes, who she met while on the show. When confronted with explicit text messages, he went on, “She denied it all — even the explicit messages I found.”
Back In Court
In turn, Denise refuted those allegations via her attorney Brett Berman, and on July 28, filed new court docs obtained by People, alleging that her estranged husband had violated the temporary restraining order by sharing the contents of her laptop and cellphone, including those explicit messages, with the media. The reality star also asked that her devices be returned to her, a request the judge signed off on — despite Aaron’s claims that he did not steal Denise’s electronics.
The battle has just begun. “Denise never imagined things would get this ugly with Aaron,” says the source. “She’s shocked and appalled by some of his accusations.” Still, the source says she’s instructed her lawyers to fight back. “She’s willing to spend whatever she needs to clear her name and get Aaron out of her life and held to account as quickly as humanly possible.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source starmagazine.com ’
