Erika Jayne defends her $14 million American Express credit-card bill amid embezzlement accusations

• Erika Jayne defended her $14 million American Express bill on part four of the "RHOBH" reunion.
• Jayne said the credit card balance grew over the course of 12 years, so she brushed it off.

"Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Erika Jayne defended her $14 million American Express bill on Wednesday's installment of the show's reunion on Bravo.

She brushed off the size of the credit-card bill, saying it was amassed over the course of 12 years. The yearly total - which she said worked out to be about $2 million - is "pretty much what we're doing this year," pointing to her costars, Page Six reported.

Jayne's finances were thrown into the public eye amid her legal issues with her estranged husband, Tom Girardi, who was accused in a December lawsuit of embezzling millions from clients of his law firm, Girardi Keese.

A December 2020 Los Angeles Times report alleged, citing 2019 court documents filed by a company that had previously loaned money to Girardi Keese, that Girardi Keese had transferred $20 million in loans to Jayne's entertainment company.

The reality show addressed the allegations in the LA Times report in an episode in August where Jayne's castmates confronted her about it. While Jayne denied knowing anything about the $20 million during the season, she said on Wednesday's reunion that $20 million was not actually transferred to her company, EJ Global.

"There was not $20 million transferred into your…," host Andy Cohen began to ask her before Jayne said, "EJ Global. That is correct," according to Entertainment Tonight.

"There is not $20 million, no," Jayne added. "My lawyer wrote to Page Six, to E!, everybody else, but somehow or another, that doesn't seem to be told."

The Bravo star also said during a previous episode of the "RHOBH" reunion that Girardi had controlled all of their finances and that she "gave him every paycheck" she made.

"I gave every paycheck to my husband. I stayed because I had no access," she told Cohen when asked why didn't leave Girardi earlier.

"Did you feel you were held captive?" Cohen asked her.

"I'll say this. I was 27 when I went in, he was 60, the power balance is way out of whack," she replied. "I trusted this man. All my finances were kept down at the firm."