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I have no idea if this is a true statistic, but let’s go with it—The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills has the highest divorce rate of the franchise. Two of its main cast members are going through divorces right now, and the rest have already been through one—except Kathy Hilton, but she doesn’t count. Newbie Bozoma Saint John is another exception; technically, she was still married when her husband died, but she said they were separated before he got sick, and she returned to care for him. Other newbie Jennifer Tilly, though, fits the bill.
We first met Tilly last season when she was introduced as a friend of Sutton Stracke (who, incidentally, did very well in her divorce). Tilly isn’t a full-fledged cast member yet, but she was featured in all the promo materials for this season, so it feels like a lock that she’ll be holding a diamond next year. Of course, you probably recognize her from her many film and TV appearances, like the Chucky series, Liar Liar, and Family Guy. She’s one of those character actors who’s always been around. And she’s filthy rich.
“It’s Beverly Hills,” you’re thinking. “Aren’t they all rich?” Sure. Kyle Richards has, like, 12 Birkin bags. Erika Jayne’s downsized home is bigger than the one I grew up in—and will probably die in because I can’t afford to buy my own. Kathy Hilton is, well, Kathy Hilton.
But for a reality show with such a high divorce rate, we know shockingly little about the settlements that line these women’s pockets. Erika presumably got a lot from Tom Girardi, one of the lawyers from the Erin Brockovich PG&E case, but she’s not talking. Sutton has hinted at hers, basically making it clear you’d want her at your negotiating table. Tilly, on the other hand, is an open book.
We got our first glimpse of Jennifer’s wealth when Sutton visited her Bel Air home in the season 14 premiere. The house is gorgeous, with unique decor like an antique county fair wheel of fortune, but it’s not ostentatiously rich by Beverly Hills standards. When Sutton called her Cartier ring part of the “panthère” collection, Tilly casually replied, “You mean panther?” She’s cool.
Then, in this episode, she arrived at the girls’ trip carrying a bag so expensive that the price isn’t listed online. Erika clocked it immediately, noting it goes for at least $30,000. “It’s not fashion, it’s art,” she said.
Jennifer Tilly isn’t a slouch. She’s been in the business forever, even winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1995 for Bullets Over Broadway. But a household name she is not. So where did all this money come from?
“My ex-husband was Sam Simon, who created The Simpsons,” she explained in a confessional. “I was married to him for seven years, and we were together for about ten. When we got divorced, I got a piece of The Simpsons in the settlement, and nobody knew it would run for trillions of years. So every day, honestly, I’m like, ‘Thank you, Sam.’”
That “piece” turned out to be about one-third of Simon’s ongoing earnings from the show. So, plenty of artsy purses.
“I used to do a lot of movies because the roof was leaking or to pay for plumbing,” she once said on a podcast, “but now I don’t have to.”
Still, there was a time she thought she might lose it all. While she’s made a name for herself as a poker player—including being inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame in 2022—gambling addictions run in her family.
“My grandparents on my dad’s side were really, really rich. My Aunt Marie told me that when my great-grandparents came to America, they came first class and were very wealthy. But my grandfather had to drop out of UCLA medical school and return to China because his brother gambled away the family fortune. My aunt said, ‘Oh my gosh, [Jennifer] is going to succumb to the family vice.’”
Honestly, I don’t care how she makes or loses her money. I think she’s hilarious, and I hope she sticks around.
