The premiere for Season 12 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is looming.
Already, a sneak peek is giving fans a look at how Erika Jayne is responding to any questions about her scandal or the accusations against her.
In a word? Poorly.
We know that Erika regrets some of her on-screen behavior, but does that include lashing out at a producer for following up on a conversation?
Ahead of the May 11 season premiere, Bravo released a lip in which Erika jayne is speaking to Garcelle Beauvais.
Season 11 was a heavy time for Erika, and she is clearly still processing how some of her castmates spoke about her, her divorce, and her legal troubles.
Erika singles out Sutton Stracke, claiming that her castmate "chose to repeat and say things that have been disproven."
We see a flashback to Sutton referring to "the $20 million elephant in the room," a clear allusion to the allegations against Erika.
While we should remember that Erika has not been charged with any crime, accusations and innuendo have been flying for some time.
It was at one point claimed that more than $20 million was funneled into Erika's businesses, allegedly to hide stolen payouts intended for Tom Girardi's clients.
"I never had it," Erika asserts to Garcelle in the sneak peek.
"It was never in my hands," she emphasizes. "It was never in my account."
Garcelle looks on with an attentive, polite listening face that almost occludes her true thoughts.
To the confessional camera, Garcelle is more direct.
"Other than Erika saying that they've been disproven," she notes, "I've seen nothing."
Garcelle continues: "Not in the paper, not in the blogs, nowhere."
"If this is true," Garcelle asks, "why isn't it in the press?"
That is a fair question ... and, in a sense, it is in the press.
But while Erika is arguably making some points here, there may be a good reason that Garcelle hasn't seen any "Erika Allegations Disproven!" headlines.
However, Erika says that "the facts are in my favor."
She resents that Sutton "spoke very strongly on things that have been disproven."
The producer then does their job, asking what exactly was disproven and by whom -- very normal follow-up for any reality show.
"I don't know," Erika replies, short on details.
"You'll have to check all that s--t out," she instructs, insisting: "But it was disproven."
"So," Erika argued, "Bravo can do their due diligence. I really don't know."
Erika insisted that this information is available to the public.
"Tell them to go f--king read everything that my lawyer has put out," Erika demands.
"They can answer their own f--king questions," she snaps.
We can all sympathize up to a point, understanding that Erika is under a tremendous amount of pressure.
Even if there were no allegations against her whatsoever, her life has been turned upside down in a very public and painful way.
But ... it is surprising that someone in that position would make statements as she has without offering any points of reference.
And, needless to say, public statements made by one's own attorney are not the same thing as debunked accusations.
It is Erika's attorney's job to advocate for her.
The public at large -- and, in fact, Garcelle -- would look to a more neutral party for information on what is and is not "disproven."
That said, Erika might very fairly be thinking of how so many of the accusations made against her have been accepted as fact.
These allegations are also made by involved parties -- including their attorneys -- and are not proven to be true.
It's not reasonable for her to expect people to take her at her word that things are "disproven," but so far, a lot of people have assumed facts that work against her.
