Bravo Stars Alexis Bellino's Ex-Husband Jim Has Taken To Court
Alexis Bellino from "The Real Housewives of Orange County" was married to Jim Bellino for 13 years until they split in 2018. The couple is still amicable and co-parent their three children. However, in the past, Jim has taken legal action against some other "RHOC" stars for speculating about their divorce and for trash-talking his trampoline park business. It started when Shannon Beador and Tamra Judge were guests for a live taping of the "Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald" podcast in 2018. The episode was filmed in front of a live audience and then shared online.
During the episode, Judge called Jim "very crusty." She mentioned a text message she had received from Beador wondering if he was having some kind of legal issues or involved in criminal activity. Regarding the divorce, Judge also said, "I have a theory. Everything, everything's in her name. He's going to go to jail. Yeah, he's a shady motherf***er" (via People).
McDonald questioned if the divorcing couple still owned the trampoline parks, and Beador said, "No. No. I heard that they don't." She claimed that Jim and Alexis "were sued," and that's why, and said, "I won't let my kids go because people get paralyzed ... apparently that happens." Jim didn't take too kindly to their discussion, contacting Judge and Beador through letters and calling their statements on the podcast "morally corrupt."
Beador, Judge, and McDonald were all sued
Although Shannon Beador and Tamra Judge claimed on "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen" that they were joking around with those comments, Jim Bellino filed a lawsuit in July 2018. He sued them for defamation and asked over $1 million in damages.
In 2019, Bellino sued Heather McDonald for defamation as well. According to the court documents, Bellino said they "shamelessly 'dished' and peddled unsubstantiated gossip about the Bellinos and their divorce" during the podcast recording. He also sued her for over $1 million, claiming to have lost out on that money for his business because of their disparaging comments. Each defendant denied the defamation charges and asked for case dismissal.
More drama was stirred up when other "RHOC" stars offered to testify — but not to help Beador and Judge. Gretchen Rossi and Slade Smiley offered to testify against them, and Judge asked the judge in the case not to allow Rossi's testimony. A similar situation happened when Kelly Dodd went behind Judge's back to purposefully try and get back at her, telling Bellino she would be a character witness for him. In an episode of "RHOC" from 2019, Judge expressed her frustration at Dodd's involvement and how costly the case was. About a year after that all went down, Judge wanted Dodd fired from "RHOC," but for a different reason: racist comments Dodd had previously made. Dodd was eventually let go from the show.
All the cases were dismissed
In January 2019, Shannon Beador's case was dismissed. Although Jim Bellino appealed, that was dismissed as well. There wasn't enough proof that Beador's comments caused damage to Jim's business and her words were "protected speech." In the wake of the dismissal, Beador said, "I am grateful and relieved because this has taken an emotional and financial toll on my family" (via People). Bellino also had to pay over $137,000 of her legal fees. The drama between Beador and Alexis Bellino continues, however, as Alexis and Beador's ex-boyfriend John Janssen started dating in 2023.
Heather McDonald's case was dismissed in March 2020. In a YouTube video with her lawyer, McDonald announced the dismissal news. Her attorney said, "We got an order this week dismissing the case, recognizing your First Amendment rights as a news-gatherer, a news reporter, and the case has been dismissed." McDonald teared up, explaining how the whole ordeal was very anxiety-inducing. Even though Jim appealed that decision, everything was finally settled by July. In a statement shared by TMZ, McDonald and Jim "reached a settlement of the dispute on mutually satisfactory terms." They didn't share any specifics.
In 2021, Tamra Judge's case was resolved because Jim dropped the lawsuit. Although Beador and Judge had a falling out, it seems unrelated to the defamation case.