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Denise Richards has been granted a temporary restraining order against her estranged husband, Aaron Phypers, after alleging years of physical and emotional abuse. In court documents obtained by multiple outlets, the actress detailed a series of disturbing incidents throughout their seven-year marriage.
Richards alleged that Phypers repeatedly assaulted her, stating, "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." She also said he held her down with his knee on her back to the point where she had to plead with him to stop.
According to Richards, the abuse was not isolated. She described suffering "at least three concussions" and said Phypers threatened to "break my jaw," often followed by emotional manipulation. "He would cry, beg me to stay and promise to get help, none of which ever happened," she said.
On July 4, 2025, Richards claimed Phypers screamed degrading profanities within two inches of her face for over two hours, calling her a "c**t," "whore" and "piece of s**t." The next day, she alleged he entered her townhouse with his father and hit the bill of her hat, causing it to fall off. Later that day, she said, "Aaron chased me and grabbed both of my arms forcefully and pushed me and dragged me to the ground."
Richards also accused Phypers of stalking and digitally invading her privacy. "While I was asleep and without my permission, Aaron went into my settings on my laptop and... downloaded everything from my iCloud," she claimed. She alleged that he confronted her with the stolen data, screaming, "I clicked sync iMessage... everything downloaded and I took photo of everything you lying bitch."
She provided images to the court of a black eye and arm bruises, claiming Phypers struck her in the eye with the heel of his palm during a 2022 incident in Malibu. Richards also said that during a confrontation in her office, he "aggressively marched towards me, squeezed my arm extremely tight," and threatened, "I will blow everything up if police try to take me."
Adding to her concern, Richards stated Phypers owns at least eight unregistered firearms and multiple bulletproof vests. "He told me... if he used them, no one would be able to track them," she alleged.
Phypers filed for divorce on July 7, citing irreconcilable differences. The restraining order remains in effect until their next court date on August 8.
