10 Times A Real Housewives Star Ran Into Legal Problems

Bravo’s “Real Housewives” franchise is the epitome of lightweight reality TV comfort food… but it could almost double as a true-crime documentary at times.

In the 20 years since the franchise debuted with “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” an alarming number of the show’s stars have found themselves in legal hot water, with arrests, indictments — and even a few jail sentences. (Do they have glam squads in prison?) The “Real Housewives” rap sheet continues to grow as well, with another star arrested for fraud mere months ago. So consider this list a work in progress, OK?

As “The Real Housewives” nears its 20th anniversary, we’re remembering some moments the stars would like to forget with a rundown of the most serious legal problems they’ve encountered in the past two decades. Read on to see which Real Housewives had to get mugshots taken, and then give us your thoughts in a comment below.

One of the more volatile Housewives in recent memory, Jen Shah made a big impression right away as part of the inaugural cast of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” in 2020, throwing tantrums and breaking glassware. It seems she broke the law as well: Shah was arrested in March 2021 and faced federal fraud charges for allegedly targeting elderly and vulnerable people with a telemarketing scheme. (The story played out on “RHOSLC,” too, with federal agents raiding a party bus the cast was on in Season 2 to search for Shah.)

Shah eventually pled guilty and received a sentence of six and a half years in prison, but she had her sentence reduced several times and was released in December after serving nearly 34 months behind bars. She won’t be returning to Bravo, though: Andy Cohen has stated flatly “she’s not coming back” to “RHOSLC” after her release.

One of the O.G.s of “Real Housewives” history, Teresa Giudice got “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” off to a fast start by famously flipping a table during a heated argument with Danielle Staub in the Season 1 finale. (“Prostitution wh*re” is a term that will live forever in Bravo lovers’ hearts.)

But in 2013, Teresa and her husband Joe Giudice were hit with more than three dozen federal charges including conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and bankruptcy fraud and accused of hiding assets and making false statements on loan applications. (Joe was also charged with failing to pay his taxes.) The Giudices eventually pled guilty, with Teresa serving 11 months in prison. Joe took it even worse, serving 41 months and getting deported to Italy, since he wasn’t an American citizen. The couple announced their split in 2019.

The self-described “Grande Dame” of “The Real Housewives of Potomac,” Karen Huger has been enforcing her strict code of social etiquette ever since the show debuted in 2016. Huger had trouble following the law of the land, though, when she was busted for driving under the influence following a car crash in March 2024.

It turns out Huger had three previous drunk-driving offenses on her record, which led the judge to sentence her to two years in prison, with one suspended, after she was found guilty in February 2025. Huger served six months and was released in September — but Season 10 of “Potomac” filmed without her.

Known as “The Countess” from her first marriage to a French count, Luann de Lesseps is an expert at conducting one’s self like a lady, often chiding her castmates of “The Real Housewives of New York City” for their immature behavior. But she didn’t act like a lady when she was arrested for disorderly intoxication in West Palm Beach, Florida in December 2017, reportedly kicking a police officer and threatening that “I’m gonna kill you all.”

After entering an alcohol treatment program, de Lesseps pled guilty and agreed to complete 50 hours of community service. She also remained a “RHONY” cast member for 13 seasons, until the show was rebooted with a new cast in 2023. She remains in the Bravo fold, though, appearing in last year’s dating series “Love Hotel.”

The franchise flagship “The Real Housewives of Orange County” is filled with colorful personalities — we’re looking right at you, Vicki Gunvalson — but even among them, Shannon Beador stands out with her chipper attitude and propensity for tearful breakdowns. It’s a safe bet that she shed a tear, too, when she was arrested for a DUI hit-and-run in September 2023 after crashing her car into a house and fleeing the scene.

Beador reportedly had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit and was charged with two misdemeanors, eventually pleading no contest. She was sentenced to three years of probation and 40 hours of community service and was also ordered to complete a nine-month alcohol treatment program. “I have learned so much from my terrible mistake that night,” Beador said in a statement, “and [I] realize that driving any distance while impaired is too far.”

Kooky even by “Real Housewives” standards, Kim Richards co-starred with her sister Kyle on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” for the first five seasons, becoming infamous for her loopy ramblings and erratic behavior. Case in point: In April 2015, she was arrested at the posh Beverly Hills Hotel for trespassing and resisting arrest “after police say she refused to leave a hotel bathroom and later tried to kick an officer in the groin.”

Richards was sentenced to probation and community service, and she admitted she had fallen off the wagon that night: “I stopped taking the time for me and going to meetings because I was taking care of other people and stopped taking care of myself.” But four months later, she was arrested for shoplifting at an L.A.-area Target and was slapped with more probation and community service. That was enough for Bravo: Richards was dropped from the “RHOBH” cast before Season 6, only making guest appearances in subsequent seasons.

We met Apollo Nida as Phaedra Parks’ handsome personal trainer husband when Parks debuted as a “Real Housewives of Atlanta” cast member in Season 3. (Remember when Kenya was heavily flirting with him?) But the good times came to a screeching halt when Nida faced federal charges of bank fraud and identity theft, with prosecutors alleging he used stolen financial data to write bad checks totaling millions of dollars.

Nida pled guilty in 2014 and was sentenced to eight years in prison, eventually earning his release in 2019. His marriage didn’t survive, though: He and Parks divorced in 2017, and she went on to win over a whole new fan base as the breakout star of Season 2 of Peacock’s reality competition “The Traitors.”

This is one time when a Real Housewife’s side hustle may have actually gotten her in trouble. Erika Jayne was a firecracker right away when she joined the cast of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” in Season 6, aspiring to pop diva stardom with dance tracks like “Xxpensive,” in which she coos: “It’s expensive to be me.” Yeah, about that…

Jayne was married to the much older attorney Tom Girardi when she made her “RHOBH” debut, but in 2020, the couple split as Girardi faced federal charges of wire fraud, accused of embezzling millions of dollars from vulnerable clients. (Jayne’s lavish lifestyle became a hot-button issue, too, with some accusing her of living it up on ill-gotten funds.) Girardi was found guilty and sentenced to 87 months in prison as well as ordered to pay more than $2 million in restitution. A judge ruled in a civil lawsuit, however, that the plaintiffs could not prove that Jayne had knowledge of or involvement in Girardi’s crimes.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: A “Real Housewives” husband went to prison for financial crimes.

Peter Thomas was a charming companion to cast member Cynthia Bailey on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” with the two of them getting married in a Season 3 episode. But the couple divorced in 2017, and then Thomas got worse news: He was hit with federal charges for failing to pay his taxes, with prosecutors arguing he didn’t pay more than $2 million in employment taxes on his businesses from 2017 to 2023.

Thomas pled guilty in 2024 and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and he will also have to pay restitution to the IRS. “I am here to set the record straight,” Thomas warned others thinking of skipping their taxes on Instagram ahead of his sentencing. “Yes, you will go to jail, [and] you still have to pay the taxes… All young business owners, please learn from my mistake.”

The most recent addition to this list, Wendy Osefo is an esteemed journalist and political commentator who joined the cast of “The Real Housewives of Potomac” in Season 5. But all that esteem went up in smoke this past year, as Osefo and her husband Eddie were arrested in October and charged with insurance fraud.

The charges stem from an April 2024 incident when the Osefos reported a burglary at their home upon returning from vacation. They claimed that more than $200,000 in belongings were stolen, but detectives allege that the Osefos were found returning more than $20,000 of the allegedly stolen items to stores where they were purchased. The Osefos have maintained their innocence, with a spokesperson stating: “The Osefos, alongside their legal team, look forward to their day in court.”