Denise Richards breaks down in court as she recounts shocking alleged abuse

LOS ANGELES – Denise Richards broke down in tears in the courtroom Monday as she recalled the alleged abuse she endured at the hands of her estranged husband, Aaron Phypers.

The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star – who was granted a temporary restraining order against Phypers on July 17 amid their ongoing divorce – took the stand to testify against her estranged husband.

Dressed in blue leather, a composed Richards described multiple allegations of physical and emotional abuse as she detailed terrifying incidents that left the mom-of-three fearful for her life. 

At one point during the hearing, Richards pleaded for a tissue and began crying while recalling a particularly abusive event in July. 

Richards claimed Phypers got “very volatile” with her at the Four Seasons hotel just hours after the reality TV star had undergone multiple cosmetic surgeries – including a face lift. 

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Phypers allegedly tried to search through Richards’ devices while she was sleeping. He allegedly hit her face and damaged a drain in the process.

“That is when I really, really knew that our marriage was over because there’s been physical abuse, but it kept getting worse and worse,” Richards testified. “But the fact that he did that to me five hours after coming out of a seven-hour surgery … made me feel a lot of things. Scared and vulnerable. I couldn’t walk by myself.”

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Richards continued, “And the person I looked to as my husband to protect me, wasn’t anymore. That’s when I really, really knew there wasn’t going back. To do that to your wife coming out of surgery?”

“I felt broken and defeated and so alone and just so vulnerable because I just had an extensive surgery. Him knowing the body and wellness and working on people … and to do that to your wife?”

The “Wild Things” star recalled another incident of abuse earlier in the year.

“[Aaron] started to argue with me when I brought up asking him when his parents and family were going to move out of the house,” Richards said of Phypers, whose family moved into their shared home months prior. “I was told every month that they were leaving. When I started to bring it up, he got very angry with me and volatile. He got very close to me and I had just recovered from a full face lift and I still had stitches by my ears.”

Richards described one instance in which Phypers allegedly grabbed her by her arms while she was recovering from her surgeries. 

“He would yell and call me names. Once he found out I was texting another man, he would flip it and call me a cheating w—- and a c— and a lying b—- and he would make it about that. And then he would calm down, and we would be in separate rooms, and he would come back at me and start arguing again.”

“He grabbed my arms,” she claimed. “I was three weeks out of a breast augmentation, lipo and the face lift. I was feeling extremely vulnerable and in pain. I asked him to please stay at the other house with his family. I needed to rest and heal and couldn’t have him around me like that.”

After describing her 5-foot, four-inch small stature in comparison to Phypers’ six-foot frame, Richards remembered feeling her body feeling “extra sensitive” to pain following a grueling surgical process.

“The first surgery was 7.5 hours, a very complicated one. The other was 6 hours. I was in so much pain as it was, and he knew that … and for him to grab me and be so forceful, it caused a lot of pain for me,” she claimed.

Recalling an incident from April, Richards said she woke up to Phypers allegedly squeezing her head. 

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“In April, we had gotten back from a work trip. We were lying on the couch, and he wanted to watch a show and stream it from my phone, so we were watching a TV show and I fell asleep on the couch,” she recalled. “I woke up to him squeezing my head with his hands. My heart started beating so fast. He said, ‘You f—ing b—-, I just saw you’ve been talking to Rudy.’ I was shocked because my phone was opened to stream, he was able to get in and see my messages.”

“I thought I had deleted them, but I hadn’t,” she said. “He started to get louder, and I told him to be quiet and that the girls are sleeping upstairs,” she added. 

Richards said the alleged altercations made her feel extremely “vulnerable and scared.”

“It made me feel sad. It made me feel intimated by him – he’s very big. Just very vulnerable.”

Phypers filed for divorce from Richards on July 7. He cited irreconcilable differences and is seeking spousal support from the “Real Housewives” star.

A judge granted Richards’ request for a temporary restraining order against Phypers amid their ongoing divorce on July 17.

“Throughout our relationship, 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 to the point where I would have to plead with him to get off me so that he would not kill me and hack into my laptop and phone and download all of my text messages,” Richards claimed in the documents, filed on July 16.

“Aaron regularly threatened to ‘break my jaw’ and would cry, beg me to stay, and promise to get help – none of which ever happened. Aaron has caused me at least three concussions.”

“Until now, I have been afraid to report Aaron to the police or file for a restraining order because he has repeatedly threatened to kill himself and me if I reported him to the police, among his other threats of harm to me and himself if he is reported for his abuse to anyone,” Richards continued. 

Additionally, said Richards, Phypers “threatened that I would ‘disappear’ if I called the police.”

Phypers denied all allegations of mental or physical abuse in a statement at the time.

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“I want to address recent rumors and speculation that have surfaced regarding my relationship with my wife, Denise Richards,” he told People. “Let me be unequivocally clear: I have never physically or emotionally abused Denise – or anyone. These accusations are completely false and deeply hurtful. Denise and I, like many couples, have faced our share of challenges, but any suggestion of abuse is categorically untrue. I have always tried to approach our marriage with love, patience, and respect.”

He concluded, “I ask for privacy as we navigate personal matters, and I hope that the public and media will refrain from spreading harmful and baseless claims.”

In court documents filed on Sept. 29 and obtained by Fox News Digital, Phypers’ lawyers named Richards’ ex Charlie Sheen and “RHOBH” alum Brandi Glanville as witnesses. 

In the filing, Phypers’ attorneys stated that Sheen could testify regarding “Denise’s history of not being truthful and of drug and alcohol abuse.” 

On Sept. 30, Richards responded to Phypers’ witness list by filing an objection that was obtained by Fox News Digital.

“This person is not a percipient witness to abuse committed by Petitioner against Respondent,” the document said of Sheen and Glanville, as well as other named witnesses, including Richards’ father Irv Richards. 

Phypers’ witness list stated that Irv’s testimony would include “communications from Denise regarding the case and her plans to violate court orders restricting disposal of assets.”

The witness list also named Richards herself, who would be asked to address “all of the false allegations being made against Aaron as well as her violations of court orders, her lack of fear of Aaron including phone calls and messages and video sent, her unreliability as a witness, and her violence against Aaron.”

In addition, the witness list included Phypers himself and three of his family members who would speak to “all of Denise’s allegations, as well as her [alleged] violations of court orders, her lack of fear, phone calls, messages, video she sent, violence by her, breaking Aaron’s phone, trespassing in family members’ rooms, Denise’s drug and alcohol use.”