Denise Richards Says Ex Aaron Phypers Became ‘a Different Person’ After Marriage: ‘Scared to Leave’

Denise Richards is opening up about the alleged abuse she says she endured during her marriage to Aaron Phypers.

The actress, 55, appeared on the Monday, August 3 episode of Bunnie Xo‘s Dumb Blonde podcast, where she reflected on what she called an “abusive marriage” with Phypers, who filed for divorce in July 2025 after six years together.

Richards told Bunnie, 46, that the relationship “didn’t start out that way” but eventually it became “physically,” “emotionally” and “financially” abusive. The Wild Things star called Phypers a “different person than the person I married” and claimed she “absolutely” felt conned by him. The former couple share a daughter Eloise, 15, whom Richards adopted in 2011.

During the interview, Richards claimed the first time Phypers, 43, struck her came after they wed and he received his green card. “I was so shocked. I was like, ‘Oh, [expletive]. There’s no going back from this,'” she said.

“That’s the hardest part of it. We were together over eight years, married a little over six, and I never thought I would’ve been in this situation ever. And now I get it,” she told Bunnie (real name: Alisa DeFord). “It’s easy to say, ‘Why wouldn’t someone leave’ … I didn’t. I wouldn’t have married the person.”

According to Richards, Phypers seemed “so remorseful” afterward, to the point she “felt bad for him,” and that she “played it down” once he’d planted “doubts” in her head. “It was stuff that I could hide, on my arms or something. And then he gave me a black eye,” she said on the episode. “That was when I was like, ‘Oh, [expletive]. What am I gonna do now?'”

Richards said she was “[expletive]ing scared to leave” Phypers and that the abuse eventually became “normal.” However, Phypers has previously denied Richards’ abuse allegations and accused her of physically abusing him and cheating during their marriage. Richards denied both claims on the podcast, saying she never struck him and never had an affair, though she acknowledged exchanging “inappropriate” text messages with another man.

This isn’t the first time Richards’ personal life has made headlines. She was previously married to Charlie Sheen, 60, from 2002 to 2006, a relationship that played out publicly amid his own well-documented troubles. The former couple share daughters Sami, 22, and Lola, 21.

In fact, Richards credits Sami with being a better judge of character than she was, telling Bunnie, 46, that Sami “saw through” Phypers long before she did.