The Tragedy Of Denise Richards' Love Life Gets Sadder & Sadder

The following article discusses domestic violence.

Denise Richards has lived through many tragedies in her life, many of them in her love life. The former "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star has been married twice, and both marriages were troubled. Richards' relationship with Charlie Sheen epitomized the early '00s until it crashed and burned. She seemed to have found more stable ground a few years later, but it turned out that Richards' marriage to Aaron Phypers had been doomed from the start.

Even though there were plenty of strange things about Richards and Phypers' marriage, news of their divorce still caught everyone off guard. After all, their Bravo reality show, "Denise Richards And Her Wild Things," had premiered just months earlier. Phypers filed for divorce in July, marking the beginning of a messy — and troubling — legal fight. In court documents, Richards made worrying accusations against her soon-to-be ex-husband. The whole situation feels like a throwback to her first divorce.

Richards' divorce from Sheen also involved troubling allegations against the former "Two and a Half Men" star. They've come a long way since then, though. While they clashed amid their daughter Sami Sheen's OnlyFans career, they've always prioritized their two children. "I'm always in a good place with him," she told Us Weekly in 2022. "I think it's great to be able to support one another." Whether she and Phypers will be able to come to a similar place for the sake of their daughter, Eloise, remains to be seen. But their divorce proceedings already show that Richards' love life has never been easy.

In the early days of the divorce proceedings, Denise Richards was granted a temporary restraining order after she accused Aaron Phypers of domestic violence. "Aaron would frequently violently choke me, violently squeeze my head with both hands, tightly squeeze my arms, violently slap me in my face and head, aggressively slam my head into the bathroom towel rack, threaten to kill me, hold me down with his knee on my back," she alleged in court documents (via People).

Richards contended Phypers became obsessed with hacking into her phone and laptop, using the content to threaten to hurt and even kill her. She accused him of giving her "at least three concussions." She included photos that showed her with a black eye as evidence. Richards was too afraid to ask for help. "Throughout our marriage, Aaron threatened to kill me and himself and the police," she contended. Phypers denied Richards' allegations. "She is creating a story to save her image reporting a conjured up story when I have all the real evidence," he told TMZ.

Even before Richards came out with the accusations, "RHOBH" fans were already suspicious of Phypers. "She deserves a far better man than him. I was genuinely concerned for her when I watched that scene on 'RHOBH' where he threatened to crush her hand," one Reddit user wrote, referring to an argument they had during the 2020 reunion. in which he told her: "Don't tell me what to say. I'm going to crush your f***ing hand" (via People).

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

In August, Denise Richards showed up at Aaron Phypers' house after she learned he had one of their dogs euthanized behind her back. She reportedly believed her estranged husband wasn't home. "After confirming that Mr. Phypers was not present in her home, Ms. Richards entered the home to retrieve her dogs after learning that Mr. Phypers had put down one of her other dogs without her knowledge or permission," her lawyer told People, arguing she wasn't in violation of the temporary restraining order.

Phypers, however, contended Richards hadn't had an active role in their pets' lives for years. "Denise hasn't interacted with the animals in two years and never has wanted knowledge or wanted to give her permission to any type of care for the animals," he told People in a subsequent article. According to an unnamed source, the female dog was old and had been in poor health for some time when he had her euthanized. "Melanie, a sweet elder dog who Aaron loved, had late stage cancer and was suffering when he took her for help," the insider said.

Phypers' decision was reportedly made along with the dog's veterinarian, with the source defending his actions. "The vet insisted the few days she had left being in pain were better met with putting her to sleep and off to heaven," the insider claims. "It was a painful decision. To say she was 'put down' is hurtful," the insider added.

When Denise Richards showed up on the doorstep around 4:40 p.m., Aaron Phypers called the police to report her because he was concerned about violating the temporary restraining order, TMZ reported. Richards told police she just wanted to retrieve her dogs. However, she reportedly became aggressive with Phypers' parents (seen above) after they let her into the house. In the dispatch audio obtained by People, Phypers said he "fears for his parents."

But police "did not have any evidence that a crime occurred" after assessing the situation. The house in question is actually Richards and Phypers', though she moved out unofficially around 2022 when Phypers' family moved in. "I don't live in our house," she explained on the March premiere of "Denise Richards and her Wild Things" (via People). "Aaron's mom and dad and his brother, they were gonna stay for a few months; It's been over three years."

Since then, she has been living out of rentals. "I needed some space, so I rented a townhouse, and then I rented another one and another one," she revealed. And that's why their dogs were with Phypers. After explaining the situation to the police, Richards left — apparently without the dogs — and no arrests were made. However, Phypers' elderly mother was reportedly rattled by the confrontation. Phypers fears that Richards' celebrity status may give her an advantage in the divorce. "Being a celebrity does not put you above the law," he said.

Denise Richards' divorce from Aaron Phypers got ugly fast. Unfortunately, the scenario wasn't much different when she divorced Charlie Sheen. For starters, she was 6 months pregnant with Lola when she filed papers in March 2005. They tried to work things out after their second daughter's birth, but they were just prolonging the inevitable. During their reconciliation attempt, Richards accused Sheen of watching pornography featuring what she believed were minors, and she opened divorce proceedings again, E! News reported in April 2006.

After confronting him, her husband allegedly went on the offensive, telling her she "would be f***ing dead" if she went to the authorities and to enjoy her parents "while they are still around." "I took this to mean that he was not only going to do me harm but also do harm to my parents," she said in court documents. Given the threats, she filed for a restraining order against him. "I am filing this now because I can no longer accept abusive and threatening manner and must stop him from the cycle of his abuse toward me and our children," she said (via Digital Spy).

Sheen denied having ever threatened her or her parents. "For the last year Charlie Sheen has been hit with these ridiculous charges over and over and over again and has chosen to be a respectful gentleman and just respond with no comment," his publicist told TMZ. However, they agreed to extend the protection for another three weeks. 

When she originally filed for divorce, Denise Richards asked for full custody of Sami and Lola with visitation rights for Charlie Sheen. He, on the other hand, wanted joint custody. But after finding the alleged underage pornography on his computer, she didn't want their daughters to spend the night at Sheen's. Richards and Sheen were declared legally single in November 2006, but their divorce battle waged on. A year later, she was still fighting to have Sheen's overnight visits with Sami and Lola revoked.

In November 2007, she claimed he still exhibited "inappropriate behavior ... and conduct," including "his attraction to underage women and his sexual explicitness on the Internet, including revealing his private parts," according to Access Hollywood. Sheen accused his ex-wife of carrying out a smear campaign against him. "Clearly the mother of my children has no interest in responsible co-parenting when it comes to my relationship with our girls. She behaves as though she OWNS our children. She does not," he said.

In May 2010, Sheen surrendered custody of the girls to Richards, giving her full physical and legal custody. By then, Sheen was going through serious marital issues with Brooke Mueller. He had been arrested on domestic violence charges just months earlier and was about to enter into another ugly custody battle. The situation got so bad that Richards ended up taking temporary custody of Sheen and Mueller's twin sons, Bob and Max, in 2013 amid Mueller's battle with addiction. "Someone needed to step up," a source told People.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).