Denise Richards was granted a temporary restraining order on Wednesday against her estranged husband Aaron Phypers after the actress accused him of domestic abuse, harassment and coercive control.
The restraining order, filed in California’s Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by TheWrap, lists a slew of allegations Richards made against Phypers, including harassment, disturbing Richards’ peace, tracking Richards’ movement and controlling her access to money.
The document states that the most recent occurrence of abuse took place between July 4, 2025 and July 14, 2025, and that Phyper’s father, Steven Phypers, was a witness to at least one of the alleged incidents. The filing goes on to share details of the alleged abuse, including Richards’ accusations that Phypers “threatened to kill” her and himself throughout their marriage and that he owns at least eight unregistered guns. On July 4, Richards said Phypers allegedly “got within two inches of my face” and verbally abused her with “profanities,” calling her a “c—t wh—re” and a piece of sh-t.”
“Aaron would frequently violently choke me, violently squeeze my head with both hands, tightly squeeze my arms, violently slap me in my face and head, aggressively slam my head into the bathroom towel rack, threaten to kill me, hold me down with his knee on my back to the point where I would have to plead with him to get off me so that he would not kill me and hack into my laptop and phone and download all of my text messages,” Richards, who said Phypers has “caused her at least three concussions,” stated in the court documents. “Aaron regularly threatened to ‘break my jaw’ and would cry, beg me to stay, and promise to get help — none of which ever happened.”
In another portion of the document, Richards accuses Phypers of going through her laptop and cellphone while she was sleeping.
“Aaron woke me up and screamed at me: ‘You f—king bitch. I went into your computer and saw your text messages,’” she stated in the document, adding that he called her a “lying bitch” and allegedly “smashed” her head with the palm of his hand while she was using the toilet and demanded that she give him her “f–king phone.”
Richards explained that she had never reported Phypers out of fear, as she stated that he threatened to kill her and himself if she did.
The court ordered Phypers not to contact Richards and to stay away from Richards, her home, workplace and other personal locations. In addition, Phypers is prohibited from possessing any firearms, ammunition or body armor and must turn over said items within 24 to 48 hours of receiving the notice. He was also ordered to immediately move out of the former couple’s shared home.
The two got married on Sept. 8, 2018 and Phypers filed for divorce on Monday, July 7, citing “irreconcilable differences.”
Per Us Weekly, Phypers has denied the allegations. “Not true. Conjured up. I have the real evidence,” he reportedly told the outlet.
A court hearing is set for Aug. 8 at 8:30 a.m. PST.
