Mauricio Umansky. Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Homeless Not Toothless
Mauricio Umansky is finally revealing what led to his falling out with brother-in-law Rick Hilton and the Hilton family feud.
“I think I got kind of f–ked by Hilton and Hyland,” Umansky, 53, said during a teaser for season 2 of Netflix’s Buying Beverly Hills released on Tuesday, March 12. “And when I say f–ked, you know like today, I’m happy. But, there were 100 agents at Hilton and Hyland. They did $1 billion for the first time a year. I was 19.6 percent of their production.”
Umansky explained that he approached Kathy Hilton’s husband, Rick, 68, and said he would “really like equity” and to be a full partner at the real estate firm. After their conversation, Umansky shared that he was “basically” told “No.”
He recalled sharing his concerns with Kyle Richards about how his decision to leave could impact her family. (Us Weekly confirmed his and Kyle’s separation in July 2023.)
Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky were married for more than two decades before they shocked fans with their separation in 2023. Richards was previously married to Guraish Aldjufrie, with whom she shares daughter Farrah, from 1988 to 1992. She met Umansky in 1994, and the couple exchanged vows two years later. Richards was four months […]
“Then I went home and I talked to Kyle. I go, ‘This is really going to cause a lot of stress between you and your sister and your family. And I don’t want to do this move of leaving and starting a company if you’re not comfortable,’” he said. “She was 100 percent supportive.”
He continued, “And then I remember they said to me, ‘How did you not give us any warning or any issue?’ And I was like, ‘Warning?’”
After departing from Hilton and Hyland, Umansky went on to start his own brokerage, The Agency, which is now the subject of Buying Beverly Hills.
“I think Hilton and Hyland is an amazing company and I would never be caught dead speaking poorly about them because I don’t think poorly about them,” Umansky said in a confessional. “And I am Rick’s brother-in-law. But unfortunately it got sour because it really affected the family, Kyle more than anybody. You know, her family stopped speaking to her.”
He continued, “But she understood that what was done to me was wrong, and she stood by me, and at the end of the day, I needed that.”
In his April 2023 book The Dealmaker, Umansky opened up about Rick and Kathy cutting ties with him and Richards, 55, after the creation of The Agency. “They couldn’t understand how I could just make the decision overnight and not give them a chance to convince me otherwise. They cut all communication and no longer invited us to Thanksgiving dinners or other holidays.”
Kathy Hilton kept her distance from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills until season 11, but that didn’t mean her rocky relationship with Kyle Richards wasn’t a topic of discussion on the Bravo series. When RHOBH premiered in 2010, Kyle was joined by sister Kim Richards — and by the end of the season, the […]
Despite their past, Umansky and Rick have since put their issues aside. Umansky exclusively told Us at the time that he and Rick “have a very good working relationship today.”
While Umansky and Rick have patched things up, sisters Richards and Kathy were engaged in a separate feud from a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 12 cast trip to Aspen during a September 2022 episode. At the time, Lisa Rinna explained that Hilton vented to her about her issues with Richards during an off-camera conversation.
In June 2023, Hilton and Richards were captured making up on camera during a family trip to Aspen. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t your fault. It was not your fault,” she said via an Instagram Story posted by Kyle’s eldest daughter, Farrah Aldjufrie. “It’s not your fault. It was not your fault. I was just being sad.”
Buying Beverly Hills season two premieres on Netflix Friday, March 22.
