Denise Richards's estranged husband Aaron Phypers lifts lid on her alleged affair with Marine lover and insane home life

Daily Mail​

25-07-2025

has allegedly been enjoying a months-long fling with a former special forces soldier who showered her with X-rated photos and videos – among them a graphic clip that shows him naked and pleasuring himself.
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, the actress's outraged husband Aaron Phypers claimed he caught wind of his wife's alleged affair in April and that she had promised to break it off – only for him to catch her lying about another hook-up with 53-year-old lover Rudy Reyes that took place at a Hilton Garden Inn in Burbank, California the following month.
He says his discovery of the May tryst then led to an explosive showdown over the July 4 holiday weekend, during which she smashed up his phone, he claims.
Irate, Phypers filed for divorce the following Monday – only to be hit with an avalanche of abuse allegations from Richards, 54, in court papers, including that he had left her with a black eye.
Now the 49-year-old – who feverishly denies ever harming Richards – has spoken out on their marriage to claim:
An explosive argument on the Fourth of July holiday weekend about her alleged affair, which he says has been going on for six months, is what led to his decision to end their marriage
She smashed up his phone after realizing he had taken pictures and video of her X-rated conversations with her lover
She has a 25-pill per day Vicodin addiction and washes them down with tequila
Richards lives a chaotic lifestyle that includes having a pack of 15 rescue dogs who Phypers claims are allowed to defecate all over her home
Her house is so filthy, Phypers claims he once discovered 'petrified dog c**p' under one of her daughters' beds
'I'm brokenhearted and f***ing tired,' an exhausted Phypers told DailyMail.com. 'Really, she's f***ed me up.
'We've been together nine years and for her to do that and to lie to me consistently - I'm totally tired and drained.'
Phypers said his relationship with Richards had been deteriorating for some time before their split, worsening at the start of the year partly due to what he claims is her insatiable appetite for prescription pills and tequila.
'She's got a real problem,' Phypers said of her penchant for pills. 'She mixes it too with booze and she stays up all night.
'She's there on her computer and taking stuff, then she hides the bottles. It's gotten out of hand, and I'm really concerned.'
He added: 'She buys them in bottles of 500 pills. I don't know where she gets them from, but she always has them.
'I don't know what the market rate for those are but it's $10, $20, $30, $50 each pill. You do the math - lot of money is going out the window for that.'
Adding to the marital pressure was their semi-nomadic lifestyle, which involved moving home six times in less than a decade – with each move requiring Phypers to stage what he describes as a 'Noah's Ark' operation to relocate her menagerie of pets.
According Phypers, the glamorous blonde owned 58 dogs at one point, as well as two potbellied pigs, and an incontinent Sphinx cat named Tim that would 'mark his territory' each time they moved by spraying all over the house.
He says he was left to clear up the mess and repair the damage caused to their rental properties by the dog pack and said Richards never bothers to clean up after them – instead content to let their maids sweep dog poo under the family's beds.
'It is so gnarly,' a disgusted Phypers told Daily Mail 'There was petrified dog c**p under one of the girls' beds.
'The maids just sweep it under the bed. It's a beautiful home but no one picks up the mess.'
Despite the alleged drugs and boozing, Phypers said the marriage muddled along until April when he claims he discovered 107 raunchy texts between Richards and Reyes on her phone, along with details of the multiple sordid hotel hook-ups they enjoyed.
He said the discovery made clear to him that Richards was allegedly having an affair, which led him to file for divorce. The proceedings and tension between the couple have been widely reported ever since.
'I just had this feeling that something was off because her behavior had changed – she was being kind of cool to me,' said Phypers.
'I opened her phone – we both know each other's passwords - so I opened it up and then I went to her deleted texts and there were 107 of them between her and this guy.
'I went through them and it just broke my heart.'
Of her alleged lover, he added: 'As for him, he's really is a w**ker.'
DailyMail.com has reviewed the alleged conversations between Richards and Reyes, whom she met during her stint on Fox reality military training show Special Forces: World's Toughest Test.
Reyes, a former Recon Marine, appears as one of the show's presenters and 'Directing Staff' instructors.
A review of what Phypers claims is their text messages reveal multiple discussions about setting up hotel sex sessions as well as scores of raunchy photos shared between each other.
Along with graphic naked photos and videos of Richards's alleged soldier lover, they also include X-rated photos of the actress herself – including a racy snap where she is seen exposing one breast.
Other tawdry photos on the text chain show Richards posing provocatively in a thong swimsuit, and another where she is seen posing topless wearing nothing but a pair of pink thong panties and a pink hat.
It also includes a memorably bizarre exchange in which Richards told her lover: 'I really can't wait to talk to you in person actually.
'I felt a connection as a human being when I met you and you put that potato sack over my head.'
When he first discovered the fling, his wife apologized profusely and promised to break it off, according to Phypers.
She also offered to let him look at her phone whenever he wants to 'rebuild trust' but, Phypers said, soon returned to making plans to meet up with her lover.
'When I first found out, it really stung,' Phypers told DailyMail.com. 'But she offered to rebuild trust by letting me see her phone.
'Well, it turns out she's got another number too which I just found out about.
'It kills me. She's been setting up times to meet him out of town while creating fights with me.'
Phypers's Anguished Plea to Family
To Our Family and Close Friends,
This is the hardest letter I've ever had to write. I just some of my contacts back, after being without my cell phone since the 4th July.
I'm reaching out today not in anger, but in heartbreak — as a man, a husband, a son, a brother, and a father who has spent years loving, supporting, and protecting his family.
I love my wife more than words can ever fully express. That has never changed. But the recent public accusations made against me are not only false — they are devastating. I have never, ever physically harmed my wife, and I did not give her a black eye. I have only ever stepped in to protect her or others — including separating her from physically attacking her daughter — always coming from a place of care and concern.
The effects of these allegations have reached beyond me. My elderly parents (ages 83 and 84), and my brother — who have devoted themselves to caring for our Daughter Eloise and Denise's animals and supporting our family without pay for over three years — are now being targeted and publicly shamed. They live in unbearable conditions: no hot water, no gas, no air conditioning in 100+ degree heat, and no financial support to buy basic supplies. Yet they continue to serve with love and loyalty.
This is a clear and present danger to all of us.
Privately, I've wrestled with the painful truth: that Denise has been involved in an ongoing affair with her special forces instructor, Rudy Reyes — something I confronted her about earlier this year. She begged me not to leave, saying it was nothing and that she only loved me. Then, she denied it all — even the explicit messages I found. Despite her promise to stop, more lies and shocking evidence emerged.
On July 4th, a simple act — ordering food for our daughter Eloise — led to an unthinkable discovery. Denise accused me of using her card, and in the confusion, my phone disappeared. After searching for over 20 hours and being physically attacked when I asked for it back, I eventually found it smashed inside a trash bag, hidden beneath rotting garbage and litter. When I asked why, she denied it completely. That same night, she texted me saying she was filing for divorce.
I filed instead — at 12:01 a.m. that Monday morning.
Since then, I've experienced stalking (an AirTag placed on my car), been denied access to my personal belongings, and watched my elderly parents become frightened and mistreated — simply because they supported me and helped take care of Denise's animals, her daughter, and our home.
This isn't just a relationship breaking down. It's a cry for help.
I say this with love, not judgment: Denise needs intervention. For nearly a decade, she has struggled with an addiction to Vicodin (which she jokingly calls 'Vitamin D' or 'white chestnuts'), mixed with Adderall and tequila. Some of you know this has been an issue for over 20 years. She's no longer eating real meals, and I've witnessed her pass out from substances — putting herself and others in danger, including while driving with our daughter.
I never wanted to share this publicly. But the damage is no longer just within our home — it's hurting everyone who loves her, supports her, and continues to believe in the best parts of her.
My mother has given over 13,000 hours of unpaid dog care alone — saving Denise nearly $327,000 — and yet we are being treated as if we are the problem. We are struggling just to survive, while she flies Rudy to private hotels under the guise of 'work trips.'
I ask each of you — from a place of love and truth — to pray for Denise. To pray for healing, for clarity, and for her to get the help she so desperately needs. And to protect our family — especially my elderly parents — from the false narratives being spread.
I remain open to reconciliation, healing, and truth. But I cannot stand by in silence as the people I love are being harmed — publicly and privately — while the truth is buried beneath a story that simply isn't real.
Thank you for hearing my heart. Please reach out if you need clarity. I'm here, and I'm still holding hope — not just for myself, but for all of us.
With love and respect,
Aaron
Sent from my iPhone
Most of those fights were over Phypers's octogenarian parents who live in one of Richards' properties in Calabasas where they care for her pack of 15 dogs.
But the July 4 showdown came after he said he discovered that the affair was still going on and took photos of the raunchy conversations – at which point she snatched his phone.
Phypers said he later discovered the device 'smashed to powder' at the bottom of a garbage can that was crawling with maggots.
'I run up to her and I go, 'what the f**k did you do this for?', he said. 'And she goes, 'I did not do anything to your phone'. Just denied it.
'And then I'm like, so it was Casper the Ghost? And she still denied it, so I ran out. I was in disbelief, and I took off.'
He added: 'I just feel like I've been taken for a fool. It's been a nightmare. Just a huge nightmare.'
A heartbroken Phypers then filed for divorce on July 7 and included a request for spousal support totaling $100,000-a-month.
Phypers says the colossal sum reflects the fact that he was, until this month, an equal partner with his wife in her business ventures which include a reality TV show and an only fans account.
'I do 80 per cent of the work,' he told DailyMail.com. 'I edit the pictures and build all the sets myself, as well as managing all her properties.'
Richards hit back a week later with a request for a temporary restraining order, which was granted last week, that included a laundry list of domestic abuse allegations – all of which Phypers denies.
He says he is now in limbo and waiting for an upcoming August hearing in which a judge will decide if the order is lifted, and until then, he is banned from going near his estranged wife and her adopted daughter Eloise, who he says he adores and misses terribly.
She has also refused to give him his power tools and angrily threw a workman sent by Phypers to retrieve them out of her house last Wednesday, he claims.
'She's trying to destroy me,' Phypers said. 'But I just can't be treated this way anymore.'
Neither Denise Richards nor Rudy Reyes returned Daily Mail's request for comment.
Richards' divorce attorney Brett Berman issued the following statement to Access Hollywood: 'In addition to the repeated abuse perpetrated by Mr. Phypers against Ms. Richards throughout the parties' marriage, Mr. Phypers has continued to harass Ms. Richards since being served with the Temporary Restraining Order by, among other things, disseminating private information from Ms. Richards' cell phone and laptop, which he stole.
'These actions continue to disturb Ms. Richards' peace. We have warned Mr. Phypers in writing not to disseminate any information from Ms. Richards' stolen cell phone and laptop but, he continues to do so. Ms. Richards will not be responding to Mr. Phypers' false allegations in a public forum and will be addressing Mr. Phypers' abuse in Court.'