Judge scolds Denise Richards and Aaron Phypers’ lawyers during hearing

A judge had some strong words – and a warning – for the legal counsel for both Denise Richards and Aaron Phypers during this week’s hearing.

A judge has scolded Denise Richards and Aaron Phypers’ lawyers during their ongoing hearing.

The two exes were in court on Tuesday (07.10.25) for the second of three days of testimony as the 54-year-old actress is seeking to make a temporary restraining order against her ex permanent.

At around 4pm, Phypers’ attorney Michael Finley grilled Richards on texts she sent her ex, 53, on July 5.

He asked why she didn’t mention domestic violence allegations against him in a select group of messages about her stolen purse and laptop.

However, she and her lawyer Brett Berman argued that she did mention the claims in other texts sent that day, which hadn’t been shown on the stand.

Judge Mark Juhas said: “We’re dancing around something here that’s actually pretty straightforward.”

Berman revealed he and his co-counsel had discovered copies of messages from July 5 that they accused Finley of ommitting from his exhibit.

The judge responded: “The fact that you’ve got them is fabulous, but what are we doing here? It’s two minutes until four and we have got to get this case done.”

The Los Angeles court will reconvene at 8:30am local time on Wednesday (08.10.25), but the judge warned all concerned about the importance of getting through evening on time.

He added: “All kidding aside, I don’t know when my next available day is, but it’s not for a long time.

“The order will stay in place and all that kind of stuff, but it’s not for a while.”

Last month, Phypers filed a response to Richards’ previous claims of domestic violence – which were made in a restraining order in July as she alleged her now ex-partner “repeatedly abused” her during their six-year marriage, but he accused her of being the “abusive” one in the relationship.

The couple married in 2018 in a beachfront ceremony that aired on Bravo during The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Phypers, who filed for divorce in July following what has been described as an explosive argument, previously described her allegations of abuse as “bogus”.

He said over the summer: “She’s upset. I publicly dumped her to the world, and she’s mad, so how does she retaliate? File a bogus abuse claim.”