Real Housewives of Potomac star Katie Rost just revealed that she’s filed sexual assault charges against James Orsini, her ex-husband, alleging that James kicked Katie, strangled her, and “digitally penetrated” her. The Katie Rost sexual assault lawsuit comes days after her Instagram account shared a disturbing photo of a woman presumed to be Katie lying naked and covered in blood on a bathroom floor.
Katie was a main cast member for RHOP’s debut season in 2016. She was a guest for Season 2, and was absent during Season 3, but has since confirmed that she’ll be returning to the show for its fourth season later this year. Katie and James share three children: their son James Rocco, and their twin daughters Kathryn and Renee. The couple divorced not long after their 2011 marriage.
However, their split has been an acrimonious one, and it seemed like things had been getting worse over the past few months. Last summer, Katie wrote on Instagram that she hadn’t “been allowed to see my children in a month and a half and have had the police called on me the last two times I tried to have parenting time.” (It seems that James responded to that post by filing a lawsuit claiming Katie was disparaging him on social media, about which more in a moment.)
Then, on Valentine’s Day, the photo below appeared on Katie’s IG feed, with the caption “#metoo”:
The photo was later deleted, but not quickly enough for Katie’s fans to worry about her safety. In a follow-up comment shortly before the deletion, Katie — or someone with access to her account — claimed that her boyfriend Jacob had taken and posted the photo, and that the blood on the floor was the result of a miscarriage. (Katie announced she was pregnant with her fourth child last November.)
Then, just a few hours ago, Katie shared a screenshot of the first page of her sexual assault lawsuit against James Orsini. In the caption, Katie wrote, “As soon as I got [to the West Coast], my therapist told me, ‘Katie, let it go, no more lies, no more protection for your abuser.’ And so as vulnerable as this makes me, I’m telling my truth today. Even though the state of New Jersey told me I’m not allowed to tell my story and I may go to jail. Here it is.”
Here’s a screenshot of Katie’s post, with the one-paragraph police report transcribed below. (The document as it appears on Katie’s page contains some of James’ personal information, which we’ve redacted below.)
After a previous argument and assault in NY, Def came home and again assaulted the Pla by striking her and kicking her as well as strangling her to the point where she believed she was about to lose consciousness. Actor also digitally penetrated the rectum of the Pla while taunting her, telling her that he hated her and wanted her to leave the apartment.
It appears that at least some of the recent fallout between Katie and James is due to a New Jersey judge siding with James in his request that Katie stop “disparaging Plaintiff through social media, and on any television or social media programming.” Based on the February 8th court order Katie shared part of below, it seems Katie has been further ordered to “remove disparaging social media postings about Plaintiff.”
It’s not clear exactly when the Katie Rost sexual assault charges were filed, or when the incident in question took place. However, it does look like Katie filed them in the same court as her ongoing civil battle with James. Though it’s cut off in the image Katie posted on Instagram, you can make out that the top of the page reads “New Jersey Domestic Violence Civil Complaint and Temporary Restraining Order.” So Katie’s complaint is in civil court, not criminal court.
Finally, for several weeks the link in Katie’s Instagram bio has been for a YouTube video she says contains verbal abuse from James. The clip looks like it may have been filmed in secret, with a cell phone pointing down at a table in a restaurant or bar. Neither James’ nor Katie’s face ever appears, but the man does refer to “Katie” several times, and the woman’s voice sounds like Katie’s.
At the climax of the argument, the man says, “Well, you know what, Katie, I resent you. All the time. I’m phony to you all the time just to get through the day…it’s all bullsh!t. It’s all phoniness. I don’t like you at all, I don’t like you at all, I don’t like anything about you, and I’m just getting through the day being phony. And I resent you every day.”
When the woman responds that she doesn’t believe the man, he responds, “Well that is true. I’m sorry that you’re so stupid. You’re just a stupid f*cking c*nt.”
We’ll update this post if more information becomes available.
(Photo credits: Katie Rost sexual assault via Instagram)
John Sharp is Starcasm’s chief editorial correspondent-at-large. Tips: E-mail john@starcasm.net or Twitter @john_starcasm.
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