Lisa Vanderpump had a bone to pick with Erika Girardi on Tuesday’s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
During a tense cast trip to the Bahamas, the 58-year-old restauranteur confronted Erika, asking why the singer hadn’t called to offer condolences after her brother Mark Vanderpump died by suicide months earlier.
Erika had reached out to Lisa in her own way, sending a hand-written note on personalized stationary on behalf of her and her husband Tom Girardi.
“Dear Lisa. Tom and I were saddened to hear of your brother Mark’s passing,” the note said, according to a photo of the card Erika later shared. “Please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this difficult time. Sincerest condolences.”
It was a seemingly sweet gesture, but Lisa wanted more. “Erika, when you sent me a couple of lines in a condolence card, I wish that you’d called,” Lisa admitted. “It was a little distant and that’s one thing that you’ve really tried to overcome.”
“The other ladies in the group sent flowers and I want Erika to understand that I had hoped we were closer than that,” Lisa explained to audiences. “Maybe she would have called and we could have spoken. … I haven’t really heard from her, frankly …”
Lisa might have interpreted Erika’s card to be cold, but in Erika’s eyes, the note was “the best way” for her to express herself.
“That’s a very personal note to me. I’m very sorry that you feel that way but that comes from my heart,” Erika said. “That didn’t work for you, I don’t know what to say. … I’m sorry that you didn’t think that was enough for you.”
“When Lisa Vanderpump‘s brother passed away, I didn’t feel comfortable calling so I did what I thought was best from the heart — I wrote a note,” Erika confessed. “I just wanted her to know, ‘Hey, I’m thinking of you.’ And I’ve never known of anyone to react this way. ‘Your condolence note wasn’t good enough.’ Are you f—ing kidding me?”
Trying to explain herself, Lisa told Erika that she was just explaining how she felt. “Let’s move on from this,” she said. “Erika, I love you and you did nothing wrong.”
That didn’t help. “Well don’t bring it up again and we can move on. But I will defend myself down to the f—ing bone,” Erika said. “Don’t make me out to be the bad guy. I would have loved to have connected with you privately but here we are.”
She wasn’t alone in being annoyed. “To criticize someone for sending a sympathy card? It’s one of the weirdest things I’ve heard,” costar Lisa Rinna said.
Still, Rinna was sympathetic. “But you know what? Grief is a process that nobody teaches you how to go through,” she added.
Unfortunately for Lisa, she didn’t have a lot of time to work through her feelings.
Hours later, at dinner, the Beverly Hills Housewives confronted Lisa, with Rinna accusing her of setting up Dorit Kemsley amid the ongoing #PuppyGate scandal.
Lisa maintained her innocence, and seemed disinterested in engaging in the drama. Perhaps that’s because she’s focusing more on positivity after Mark’s death.
“It may be it makes you kind of appreciate what you have even more, you know what I mean? Because you can see how quickly you can lose it,” Lisa told Kyle Richards earlier in the episode.
“All I know is that I fought with my brother, I argued with him. But now when you look back, I won’t remember one thing we were arguing about. It goes by like that,” she said. “One day they’re just gone and you will stand there like I did and you will think, What was that all about?“
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Tuesdays (10 p.m. ET) on Bravo.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “home” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
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