NEED TO KNOW
\nDenise Richards broke her silence on her ongoing divorce from estranged husband Aaron PhypersIn an Instagram video on Aug. 21, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum admitted, “I never thought I\u2019d get divorced again” and opened up about how difficult the split has beenSince Phypers filed for divorce last month, the former couple have made a myriad of allegations against each other<\/p>\n
Denise Richards<\/a> is speaking out for the first time amid her contentious divorce from estranged husband Aaron Phypers<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills<\/a> alum, 54, shared a candid update on Instagram<\/a> on Thursday, Aug. 21, more than two months after Phypers filed for divorce.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI was just checking in to see how your summer\u2019s been going,\u201d she began. \u201cMine\u2019s been wonderful. It\u2019s actually been s—–, but I\u2019m going to pretend like it\u2019s all good. I\u2019ve actually been posting on Instagram like nothing is going on in my life, and I can\u2019t do that anymore because there\u2019s something obviously going on.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The actress went on to thank her fans for being \u201cso kind and so supportive\u201d amid her split from Phypers. <\/p>\n \u201cI see all of your messages, I can\u2019t comment because it\u2019ll be taken out and put in the press, but I just wanted to, in all seriousness, say that this has been a very, very, very difficult time,\u201d she admitted. \u201cIt\u2019s so hard to go through a divorce.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cMany of you have gone through that. This isn\u2019t my first one – this is my second one,\u201d she added, referring to her 2006 split from Charlie Sheen<\/a>. \u201cI never thought I\u2019d get divorced again<\/a>. This is why I always say never say never.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cI really just wanted to say thank you so much for all of your supportive, kind, thoughtful, encouraging messages because this has been a very difficult time,” she added.\n<\/p>\n Richards noted that \u201ccircumstances around my divorce that are difficult to talk about \u2014 which one day I will talk about it when the timing is right.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n For the time being, the Denise Richards & Her Wild Things star wants to \u201cprocess everything and get through this,\u201d adding, \u201cIt has not been easy, so your messages mean a lot.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Denise Richards and Aaron Phypers attend the “Paper Empire” Tv Show Event at Annex Beach on April 18, 2023 in Cannes, France.<\/p>\n Arnold Jerocki\/Getty<\/p>\n The television personality also addressed her decision to have \u201creconstructive surgery.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cDuring this time, some of you may know because it was put out there that I was having reconstructive surgery. I was open and honest about having reconstructive surgery for a TV show that I did,\u201d she admitted. \u201cAnd then I had another surgery and I do want to post about that but I didn\u2019t want to post about it during this and look inappropriate and have it seem insensitive to what I\u2019m dealing with, but I also want to live my life and share my life, so that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to do and continue doing.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cI just wanted to say thank you so much. It makes me want to cry seeing your messages because this is a very difficult time and you guys are all helping me through it. Thank you. Lots of love,\u201d she concluded before panning to her dog Lily and adding, “Lily says thank you too.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Denise Richards poses as she promotes her new show “Denise Richards and Her Wild Things” at Planet Hollywood Times Square on February 26, 2025 in New York City.<\/p>\n Bruce Glikas\/Getty<\/p>\n Since Phypers filed for divorce last month, the pair have made a myriad of allegations against each other. <\/p>\n Days after the filing, Richards accused Phypers of multiple instances of physical abuse, and she was later granted a temporary restraining order<\/a> against him. Phypers, who wed Richards in 2018, denied the allegations of physical abuse<\/a>, calling them “completely false and deeply hurtful” in a previous statement to PEOPLE.\n<\/p>\n The same month, Richards accused her ex of violating her temporary restraining order<\/a> against him and requested that Phypers return her laptop and prohibit him from disseminating information contained within it, which he denied in a statement to PEOPLE.\n<\/p>\n Phypers also accused Richards<\/a> of cheating on him with another man at the beginning of the year. He claimed Richards hit him, scratched him and smashed his phone.\n<\/p>\n Aaron Phypers and Denise Richards attend Sutton Stracke’s NRF western themed after party on January 15, 2024 in New York City.<\/p>\n \u00a0John Lamparski\/Getty<\/p>\n Phypers alleged the reality star was addicted to Vicodin<\/a> in a letter to friends and family that was obtained by Page Six<\/a>, and claimed that Richards needs an “intervention.”\n<\/p>\n “Some of you know this has been an issue for over 20 years. She’s no longer eating real meals, and I\u2019ve witnessed her pass out from substances \u2014 putting herself and others in danger, including while driving with our daughter,” he said, referring to 14-year-old Eloise<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n In a statement to PEOPLE, Richards\u2019 divorce attorney Brett Berman denied the allegations<\/a> and accused Phypers of abusing and harassing the actress.\n<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition to the repeated abuse perpetrated by Mr. Phypers against Ms. Richards throughout the parties\u2019 marriage, Mr. Phypers has continued to harass Ms. Richards since being served with the Temporary Restraining Order by, among other things, disseminating private information from Ms. Richards\u2019 cell phone and laptop, which he stole,\u201d the statement read in part. \u201cThese actions continue to disturb Ms. Richards\u2019 peace.\u201d\n<\/p>\n In a response to the new allegations obtained by PEOPLE, Phypers refuted the claims made by Richards’ lawyers.\n<\/p>\n “Unfortunately, it seems Denise is experiencing another one of her now-infamous ‘upside-down jacket’ moments \u2014 and her well-paid handlers appear determined to spin it upright, no matter the cost or collateral damage,” he said in part, referencing an appearance Richards made in The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 13 in which she wore her jacket upside-down<\/a>. “We genuinely hope she receives the help and support she clearly needs. As Denise herself once famously slurred in a less-than-sober moment \u2014 words that now echo with irony \u2014 ‘Stop it. I know what you are doing.'”\n<\/p>\n Most recently, Richards and Phypers made claims against each other about their property and daughter Eloise. <\/p>\n According to documents obtained by PEOPLE, Richards requested that the court order Phypers and his family to vacate her Calabasas property, which he currently resides in with his parents and brother, so she can retrieve her dogs and belongings without violating the temporary restraining order<\/a> they have in place.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cI left many of my personal items and my late mother’s items at the house based on Aaron telling me that his family would be moving back to Canada and we would be moving back into the [property],\u201d she claimed in the complaint. \u201cIf I am not able to [retrieve] my dogs and belongings, I believe my dogs will be harmed and my property destroyed or discarded during the eviction process.\u201d\n<\/p>\n The reality star further alleged that \u201cAaron and his parents and brother have severely damaged\u201d the home, leaving it \u201cin a state of disarray.\u201d\n<\/p>\n In response to Richards\u2019 allegations, a source close to Phypers said the filing is an attempt to \u201cto divert attention away from her adulterous affair.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cWe thought all these shenanigans were being dropped from courts,\u201d the source continued. \u201cWe also don\u2019t see an emergency as warranted with the current action, especially with Denise\u2019s immediate interest in trying to get into the residence Aaron lives in is not only suspicious, but manipulative.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n In a separate court filing obtained by PEOPLE, Phypers claimed Richards had him sign adoption papers for Eloise<\/a>, his “daughter by bond of over nine years,” but “failed to file them,\u201d which has left him “legally without his daughter despite raising her as his own\u201d since filing for divorce.\n<\/p>\n “This has caused immeasurable harm and demonstrates the imbalance [Denise] maintains in this matter,” he said in the filing.<\/p>\n