RHOC Was Alexis involved in Jim Bellino’s lawsuit against Shannon Beador?
RHOC’s Alexis Bellino didn’t just take Shannon Beador’s boyfriend, her ex-husband Jim Bellino once sued Shannon. She claims the lawsuit caused her to lose $300,000 defending herself. In the latest episode of Real Housewives of Orange County, Shannon even said she thinks Alexis was involved in the lawsuit that caused her emotional and financial problems for three years. Was she?
How much did Jim Bellino sue Shannon and Tamra for?
In 2018 Jim Bellino sues Tamra Judge and Shannon Beador for $1 million for comments they made on Heather McDonald’s Juicy Scoop podcast.
Shannon has said she lost $300,000 defending herself in the lawsuit, and Tamra said she lost $500,000.
Why did Jim Bellino sue Shannon?
News had just broken that Jim and Alexis were divorcing after 14 years, and Tamra shared a theory about why they were divorcing. She also questioned why he was seeking spousal support and used it to speculate that he was going to jail. “Why is he wanting spousal support? I have a theory. Everything’s in her name. He’s going to go to jail. Yeah, he’s a shady motherf**ker.”
Tamra claimed that the divorce was “fake and for legal reasons.”
Shannon Beador said, “I heard they don’t [own the trampoline park businesses] because they were sued. Iwon’t let my kids go because people get paralyzed. Apparently that happened.”
Although at the time TMZ reported that Jim Bellino sent Tamra and Shannon a cease and desist letter right after the podcast, Shannon now claims that Alexis was the one who sent the legal notice.
Why did Alexis and Jim divorce?
Although Tamra Judge speculated that Alexis and Jim’s divorce was “fake and for legal reasons,” others have considered that the split may have been caused in some way by being on reality tv. The pair shared their marriage to the world both on Real Housewives of Orange County and Marriage Boot Camp.
In a 2021 interview with US Weekly Alexis insisted that this wasn’t the case because they had had problems throughout their entire marriage, including before they appeared on TV.
“I don’t think Housewives was the reason because I had already been having feelings before Housewives that I was fighting back. I was, like, I can’t, you know, we got to work this out,” Alexis told the outlet.
She also revealed that they had been in therapy the entire time they were married and said they were like “oil and water” together.
Was Alexis involved in the lawsuit?
When Shannon confronted Alexis during Episode 1 of Season 18 (Exes and OCs,) she immediately brought up the lawsuit instead of the fact that Alexis is dating Shannon ex John Janssen.
“I lost $300,000 defending myself for something that I didn’t even do, and you started the lawsuit by sending a cease and desist letter,” she continued. “So in my eyes, you’re part of it, Alexis.”
“I’ve been upset that you were involved in the lawsuit where your husband sued me as a single mom for three years,” she explained. “But for three years, I went through such emotional and financial difficulty.”
Alexis denies that she was a part of her ex-husband’s lawsuit. She even challenged Shannon to find proof that her name was on any of the documents.
Instead, she said Shannon’s real issue with her was over Alexis dating John Janssen.
“I know this is uncomfortable for both of us, when you’re the ex and I’m the new,” she replied. “If you go back to any court documents and anything else, show me the proof of my name being on anything, because Jim and I had been divorced for six months when he sued you.”
UPDATE! Podcaster Zack Peter share the lawsuit that shows that Alexis was named in the lawsuit against Shannon and Tamra, but as an interested party, not as a plaintiff.
Alexis vs. Shannon pic.twitter.com/8i8K4RZz8c
— Zack Peter (@justplainzack) July 20, 2024
Was the lawsuit thrown out?
In 2019 the lawsuit was dismissed and the judge awarded Shannon $137,340.25 of the $220,000 legal fees she requested. It’s unknown if she ever received payment from the judgment.
Alexis connected to another Shannon Beador lawsuit?
In March, 2024, Shannon’s ex John Janssen, who was seeing Alexis at the time, sued Shannon for $75,000 over money she allegedly borrowed for a facelift.
In April, 2024, Shannon pointed out to Jeff Lewis on his radio show Jeff Lewis Live” on SiriusFM: “Well, I’ve had two lawsuits. They’ve both had Bellino around it. Interesting, isn’t it? A little bit.”
What happened with Alexis and ex-fiance Andy Bohn?
In between Alexis’ marriage to Jim Bellino and her current relationship to John Janssen, she was engaged to film producer Andy Bohn. They went public in February 2019, got engaged December 2020, and split up in September 2023.
Alexis told Page Six that the their relationship couldn’t withstand the death of her mother, Penelope.
“The death of a close person like your mom either makes a couple or breaks a couple. And, unfortunately for me, it broke us.”
