Denise Richards testified over alleged domestic abuse from Aaron Phypers.
This summer, amidst their divorce, the court granted Richards a restraining order.
In court, Richards has now detailed specific incidents and injuries that she says that she sustained from her ex.
Please be warned, this article includes a detailed description of domestic violence. It is not easy reading.
Denise Richards testified in court this week
On Monday, October 6, Denise Richards testified to the court about ex Aaron Phypers and her restraining order against him, People reports.
She told the court that Phypers “would often threaten to throw me through the windows and off balconies.”
A tearful Richards testified: “He’s almost killed me so many damn times.”
According to the actress, her estranged husband would allegedly threaten and abuse her. She described these incidents as repeatedly happening when she was most vulnerable, such as recovering from surgery.
In fact, Richards told the court that this is what led to their split on July 4.
According to Richards’ courtroom testimony, on July 4, she asked Phypers to leave their home.
“He got very angry at me and volatile, he got very close to me,” Richards recalled.
“I had just recovered from a full facelift and I still had stitches behind my ears,” she detailed. “And I felt extremely vulnerable.”
Richards described Phypers’ behavior leading up to alleged domestic violence: “He would get as close as a couple of inches from my face.”
She continued: “He would grab my arms and he would yell, call me names.” Richards cited examples like: “cheating whore and a c–t and a lying bitch.”
‘It made me feel scared’
At the time, Denise Richards shared, she felt “extremely vulnerable and in pain.” She was suggesting that Phypers spend time at their former home, where his family was residing.
Instead, it was Richards who departed — sleeping in her office on a sofa.
“Emotionally, it was hard for me to understand,” Richards expressed. “Especially with having what he has done for a living, working in the wellness space.”
She had thought “that he would know how much that this would affect me emotionally too.”
Richards continued: “And it just made me feel vulnerable, it made me feel scared, it made me feel sad. It made me feel intimidated by him. He’s very big. I’m a lot smaller than [he is].”
The following day, on July 5, Phypers and his father came to her office, she testified on Monday.
According to her, Phypers threatened to release naked photos of her to the public. She also alleged that he backhanded her, striking the back of her left ear while seemingly targeting her hat.
“I was wearing a baseball cap. My head moved, he flipped the hat off very aggressively,” Richards described.
“I still had stitches on one side of the ear,” she explained, “which caused some bleeding and so much pain because I had incisions on both sides.”
When Richards told Phypers that he had “hurt” her, he allegedly retorted: “‘I didn’t touch you.'” He and his father then departed. He allegedly warned her against dialing 911, saying: “Something very dangerous is going to happen to you. You’re going to disappear.”
‘Please stop; you’re hurting me’
In September of this year, Denise Richards obtained a temporary restraining order against Aaron Phypers.
After this, she says, he returned to retrieve his laptop from her townhouse. According to her, he demanded her phone.
Richards testified on Monday that he “grabbed me by both arms and then pushed me down on the stairs.”
She had hidden her phone in her shorts.
However, Phypers allegedly departed with not only his laptop, but with her purse and credit cards.
Richards’ testimony included other incidents, such as a night in April when the two were in Chicago for ComicCon.
Apparently jealous over her texts, he started “grabbing me, pushing me down,” she told the court.
“His fingers were around my face,” Richards described. She allegedly urged him to stop, warning he was going to “give me a bruise.” Richards recalled telling him: “Please stop, you’re hurting me.”
In May, Richards was at a hotel following a lengthy surgery on her breasts and stomach.
She had given Phypers her laptop password to watch TV while she went to sleep. However, he awoke her, allegedly “being very hostile and aggressive” over her messaging history.
No one deserves abuse under any circumstances
“He sat me down on the toilet and I was shaking, holding my phone on my lap,” Denise Richards testified. “He said, ‘Give me your f–king phone.'”
According to her testimony, Phypers then “hit me with his right hand,” damaging the drain for her surgical recovery.
Richards recalled crying while asking why he had allegedly hit her. Phypers, she says, replied: “I didn’t hit you. I need your f–king phone.”
Phypers has admitted to viewing his ex’s texts (which he says show evidence of her cheating on him). He denies abusing Richards.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org.