After nearly seven years of marriage, Denise Richards and Aaron Phypers are officially parting ways. Phypers filed for divorce in Los Angeles County on July 7, 2025, citing “irreconcilable differences” and marking July 4 as their official date of separation. In his petition, he requests spousal support, citing his lack of income since closing his wellness business in 2024, and highlights their lifestyle expenses, which he alleges are approximately $105,000 per month. Now, a source says Richards and Phypers had a “toxic” marriage. Here’s what was allegedly going on behind the scenes.

Denise Richards and Aaron Phypers fought constantly in their marriage before the divorce filing, a source says

Denise Richards and Aaron Phypers are officially calling it quits on their marriage. Phypers filed for divorce in early July 2025, allegedly blindsiding Richards.

The couple first crossed paths in 2017 at his Malibu wellness clinic, Quantum 360, where she sought alternative “frequency medicine” treatments. They married in a private Malibu ceremony in September 2018, just 48 hours after getting engaged. He went on to adopt her youngest daughter, Eloise, while co-parenting her two older children from her marriage to Charlie Sheen. The pair opened up their family life on Bravo, appearing together on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (2019–2020) and later starring in Denise Richards & Her Wild Things in early 2025.

Richards and Phypers appeared to have a loving marriage. However, a source told DailyMail.com that the couple fought constantly.

“All they were doing was fighting,” the source alleged. “It was very toxic.”

The source added that Richards and Phypers got into a verbal altercation over the July 4th weekend.

“They have been having trouble for some time, but they had a row over the weekend where they basically were like, ‘F*** you,’ and he marched off to file for divorce,” they alleged.

The source added that Richards feels “devastated and relieved,” as she’s “mentally exhausted from the fighting” and “glad that’s over.”

Sami Sheen advised about ‘toxic’ relationships on TikTok one day before Aaron Phypers filed for divorce

Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen’s daughter, Sami Sheen, 21, took to TikTok to discuss “toxic” relationships a day before Aaron Phypers filed for divorce from her mother.

“My advice on how to remove the rose-colored glasses in a toxic relationship,” she captioned the social media post.

“If you’re dating someone toxic, but you don’t really know if they’re toxic, deep down, you know,” Sheen said on July 6. “But you’re like, ‘Is it that bad? I can look past this. Well, he’s so good to me some days, but then other days, he treats me like s***.’ You need to ask yourself, if you had a daughter and she was dating a man like this, what would you tell her? And then, boom! You’re like, OK, I would tell her to break up with him, block him, move on. Like, he’s a piece of s***, treats her like s***.”

Sheen didn’t directly mention Phypers in the post. However, several of her followers commented with speculation regarding who she was referencing.

Denise Richards previously admitted that being married to her isn’t ‘easy’

Denise Richards and Aaron Phypers clearly didn’t have a perfect marriage, as evidenced by the divorce filing. However, in March 2025, the couple discussed their union on Denise Richards & Her Wild Things. Richards admitted that marriage to her wasn’t easy. She and Phypers publicly stated that they would never get divorced.

“It’s not easy being married to me,” she admitted, according to People. Phypers added, “It is not, and she said it! But this is it. I’m done.”

“Yeah, I’m never getting divorced again,” Richards continued. “Even if we hate each other, I’m not gonna f***ing get divorced.”

“No, we’ll just have different homes or something,” Phypers said. “But we’re not gonna hate each other.”

For more news and exclusive interviews, follow Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s Instagram.