RHOC’s Emily Simpson Questions if Ryan Boyajian is Innocent

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Jennifer Pedranti is looking back on the moment Ryan Boyajian was publicly tied to the $16 million MLB gambling scandal involving Los Angeles Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani.

After the drama played out on the season 18 finale of The Real Housewives of Orange County on Thursday, Jennifer, 47, admitted it felt like the “world stopped,” and she also reacted to Tamra Judge‘s FBI hat. Plus, Tamra, 57, shaded Ryan, 46, for how he allegedly gained immunity, and Emily Simpson, 48, expressed concern for Jennifer’s future.

“We were reached out to and [told], ‘Hey, ESPN wants to write this article. Ryan’s name is mentioned because of your platform and he’s friends with the bookie.’ So we were like, ‘Well, why?’ It was confusing, Ryan’s name being mentioned. Ryan was like, ‘Well, yeah, just say they’re best friends and we support them, what they’re going through, and Ryan’s not a bookie.’ And they were like, ‘Perfect,’” Jennifer recalled during an October 31 interview with Bravo HQ.

“When that article hit, I didn’t see Ryan all day. Ryan went left, I went right, our phones were blowing up,” she continued. “My mom and dad were in France in the middle of a trip like, ‘Are you alright? Is Ryan going to jail?’ I truly felt like the world stopped.”

According to Jennifer, people don’t understand that she and Ryan had known about the situation for a “long time” and that the people involved were their “best friends.”

“We were with them all the time, so when this was all happening, we were going through it with them,” she shared.

As for Tamra’s controversial hat, Jennifer said, “It’s just absolutely disgraceful,” and she insisted there’s nothing she doesn’t know about Ryan.

“We just are best friends and we communicate really well,” she explained. “I love that man so much. I’m so grateful for him. I wish people knew him the way I do, I wish people knew him the way my kids do. He is a gift for sure.”

In her own segment, Tamra said that the cast initially didn’t know that the case involved Shohei, 30.

“We didn’t know it was about the Dodger player. What I had read, it was something to do with Resorts World being investigated. And then I think during that investigation, it came out about the Dodger player and the money being taken out of his account and put into Ryan’s account,” she explained. 

“He keeps claiming he is innocent. I guess time will tell. I read that he is taking immunity or something like that by ratting people out,” Tamra added.

Meanwhile, Emily admitted that she never had the best feelings about Ryan.

“[But] I decided that Jenn was happy so I was just gonna let that go, and so that’s where we’re at when she gets engaged,” Emily explained. “I am very happy for her. He seems to be really good to her, and supporting her kids and kind of coming up and taking care of her. And so I think that’s great, but then things happen again.”

Following the claims regarding Ryan’s potential ties to the MLB scandal, Emily grew concerned about Jennifer’s reliance on Ryan.

“I know that Jenn likes to take up for Ryan, and she likes to say, ‘He didn’t do anything. He didn’t know. He wasn’t involved.’ From everything that I’ve gathered and read and heard, I don’t know how you consistently go to Vegas on private jets and spend money like crazy and lose $4 million at the table and have millions of dollars going into an account with your name on it, and you don’t know anything. And you have no idea. For how long can you consistently say, ‘I just didn’t know?’” she wondered. “That’s not a defense.”

“I just think that Jenn needs to be very careful,” Emily went on. “I would hope that she takes the money that she gets from her settlement from her ex, and she invests it in herself and her kids, and that she has a way to support herself so she’s not always dependent on Ryan.”

Gina Kirschenheiter, 40, also spoke out, recalling a lunch she and Emily went to with Jennifer before ESPN’s article came out.

“Me and Emily actually went to lunch with Jenn maybe two or three days before the news broke. And she sat down with us … She was like, ‘Ohtani this’ and I was like, ‘I don’t know who you’re even talking about.’ And she’s like, ‘And something’s gonna come out,’” Gina revealed. “[And] it wasn’t great. It doesn’t read great for him.”

Also during the interview with Bravo HQ, Shannon Beador, 60, Alexis Bellino, 47, and Katie Ginella, 40, weighed in, speaking of their support of Jennifer. 

“I don’t really know everything about Ryan’s legal situation. And again, it’s not my business,” Shannon noted. “Jenn says everything’s okay, everything’s gonna be okay, so I’m hoping that it is for both of them.”

Alexis was also hopeful, saying, “I love Jenn, and I just want to support my friend, so it will unfold how it will unfold how it unfolds. But at this point, I’m just gonna support Jenn.”

“My one concern was Jenn and her children. I really don’t care about anything else. If [she] and her children are safe and happy and healthy and fine, I’m good,” added Katie.

The Real Housewives of Orange County season 18 reunion begins Thursday, November 7, at 9/8c on Bravo.