Denise Richards' Ex Aaron Phypers Ordered to Pay Over $25,000 in Court Sanctions
A judge ruled Phypers failed to properly respond to discovery requests, leading to the financial penalty in the ongoing divorce proceedings.
Aaron Phypers has been ordered by a court to pay more than $25,000 in sanctions to his estranged wife, Denise Richards, as their divorce proceedings continue to escalate.
The five-figure sum was awarded to Richards after a judge found that Phypers had failed to adequately respond to a series of written discovery requests from her legal team. The rulings were made at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles.
Phypers was ordered to pay $10,987 in sanctions related to his failure to respond to the discovery requests. Separately, he was hit with an additional penalty of $14,775 within 10 days, following a stipulation between the parties regarding a protective order filed by Richards on June 26. The exact reasons for the additional sanction and the terms of the protective order agreement were not specified in the court filing.
Despite these rulings, another motion seeking to compel Phypers to provide responses to Richards' initial demand for production of documents remains unresolved. The judge has pushed this matter to December 2 and has ordered both parties to meet and confer to resolve their discovery disputes before filing a joint statement with the court.
A separate motion to compel was also continued to December 2, with a similar order for the parties to attempt to resolve their discovery issues beforehand.
Phypers filed for divorce from the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star in July 2025, citing irreconcilable differences after nearly seven years of marriage. Richards subsequently accused Phypers of years of physical abuse and was granted a permanent restraining order against him in November 2025, which is valid for five years. Phypers has denied these allegations.
The divorce has become increasingly contentious. In February, Richards was ordered to pay Phypers $5,000 per month in temporary spousal support and $30,000 towards his legal fees. Phypers has claimed financial difficulties led to his eviction and potential car repossession. However, Richards secured a legal victory in April when a judge ruled that her wages and assets could not be seized to cover Phypers' debts.
Phypers, who married Richards in 2018, has also claimed he raised Richards' adopted daughter Eloise as his own, but that Richards never finalized the adoption papers, leaving him without legal parental rights. Richards adopted Eloise as a single mother in 2011 and also shares daughters Sami and Lola Sheen with ex-husband Charlie Sheen.