Denise Richards’ ex Aaron Phypers suffers 5-figure blow in court as divorce heats up

Aaron Phypers was ordered to pay more than $25,000 in sanctions to Denise Richards as their bitter divorce battle continues to rage on, Page Six can exclusively reveal.

The five-figure court victory came amid the estranged couple’s ongoing fight over discovery, which is evidence, according to court papers exclusively obtained by Page Six.

The court found that Phypers had failed to properly respond to a series of written questions from Richards’ legal team, per the docs filed at Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles, Calif., Wednesday.

For this reason, he was ordered to pay $10,987 in sanctions.

Separately, Phypers was hit with an even heftier penalty in a separate matter during the hearing.

According to another document, Richards had filed a request for a protective order on June 26, and the parties reached a stipulation regarding that request in open court.

The judge then ordered Phypers to cough up an additional $14,775 in sanctions to Richards within 10 days.

The two penalties bring the total amount Phypers was ordered to pay the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum to a whopping $25,762.

Notably, the one-page court filing does not specify why the additional sanction was imposed or reveal the terms of the parties’ protective-order agreement.

A separate motion seeking to compel Phypers to provide responses to Richards’ first demand for production — a formal request for documents or other evidence — was not resolved Wednesday.

Instead, Puente pushed the matter to Dec. 2 and ordered Richards and Phypers “to meet and confer to resolve discovery disputes” and file a joint statement with the court “after conferring,” another court filing states.

Another motion to compel was also continued until Dec. 2, with the judge similarly ordering the parties to attempt to hash out their discovery issues beforehand.

The latest courtroom developments come as Richards and Phypers remain embroiled in an increasingly contentious split.

Phypers filed for divorce from Richards in July 2025 after nearly seven years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.

The “Wild Things” star, 55, responded by accusing her estranged husband, 54, of years of physical abuse and sought a restraining order against him, which a judge made permanent for five years in November 2025. Phypers has denied her allegations.

Their split has since become increasingly contentious, with Richards ordered in February to pay Phypers $5,000 a month in temporary spousal support as well as $30,000 toward his legal fees.

Amid the back and forth, Phypers claimed that his dire financial situation caused him to be evicted and reportedly facing the repossession of his car.

In April, the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star scored a legal win when a judge ruled that her wages and other assets could not be seized to satisfy Phypers’ debt.

Phypers, who married Richards in 2018, also claimed that he raised Richards’ daughter Eloise “as his own,” but that the actress never filed the adoption papers he had signed, leaving him without legal parental rights.

Richards adopted Eloise, now 15, as a single mother in 2011. She also shares daughters Sami Sheen, 22, and Lola Sheen, 21, with ex-husband Charlie Sheen, to whom she was married to from 2002 to 2006.

Reps for Phypers and Richards did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.