Mauricio Umansky Claps Back at Paris Hilton Over Rick Drama: "It's Sad"
Kyle Richards' husband is defending himself in the wake of his comments about leaving Hilton & Hyland in 2011.
Mauricio Umansky is now addressing those comments made about him by his niece, Paris Hilton, following what he said about her dad, Rick Hilton, in a preview for the new season of Buying Beverly Hills, which made the rounds last week. Since then, Mauricio has called her response "sad" amid the family drama.
In fact, Mauricio shed new light on the issues within his family and the uproar his comments made in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, released this week, in which he also defends himself.
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Mauricio Umansky's response to Paris Hilton's comments
In case you missed it, in the widely circulated clip for Buying Beverly Hills, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills husband, who is currently separated from wife, Kyle Richards, talked about his decision to leave Hilton & Hyland, and sever his working relationship with his brother-in-law (and Kathy Hilton's husband), Rick. After leaving that real estate agency, Mauricio went on to start The Agency in 2011.
Paris later defended her father, Rick, in comments section of an Instagram fan account after the clip went viral, noting her frustration with Mauricio after her dad "has always taken the higher road" and would "never talk negatively about his family — especially in the press... Frankly, we are all sick of him using the Hilton name every chance he gets to plug his lame show. It's enough already."
In an interview with ET's Brice Sander released on March 18, Mauricio acknowledged that his niece was hurt by his comments. "Look, it's sad she got so upset about that, but at the end of the day, it's two businessmen making business decisions," he said.
Mauricio went on to talk again about his decision to leave Hilton & Hyland more than a decade ago.
"I felt like I deserved something," he explained. "I asked for something, he didn't want to do it, and then I chose to go off on my own. I wanted to care for my family, I wanted to be successful, I wanted to go forward, I wanted to do the most I could, and at the end of the day, I made that decision to go forward with this thing. There is certainly no bad blood on my side."
Mauricio Umansky's comments about leaving Hilton & Hyland
In the viral clip which made the rounds last week, Mauricio elaborated on his decision to leave the real estate firm, co-founded by his brother in law.
"So I think I kind of got f—cked by Hilton & Hyland," he said. "And when I say f—cked, you know, like, today, I'm happy. But there was a hundred agents at Hilton & Hyland. They did a billion dollars for the first time a year. I was 19.6 percent of their production. I went to Rick and said, 'I'd really like equity, right, and to be a partner.' He went back, talked to Jeff [Hyland], he got back to me, and basically, I was told 'no'. Then I went home, I talked to Kyle, I go, 'This is really going to cause a lot of stress between you, your sister, and your family, and I don't want to do this move of leaving and starting a company if you're not comfortable."
Kyle gave Mauricio the go-ahead, which he noted, had a negative impact on her family. "She stood by me, and at the end of the day, I needed that," he explained.
Mauricio also spoke in lengths about this in his first book, The Dealmaker: How to Succeed in Business & Life Through Dedication, Determination, & Disruption, published in 2023.
Andy Cohen's thoughts on the drama between Mauricio Umansky and Kathy Hilton's husband
Andy Cohen weighed in on the drama during the March 13 broadcast of his radio show, Radio Andy, where he shared his thoughts about the family drama. Andy said he believed that Kyle never spoke about Mauricio's issues with his former firm, because of her relationship with her sister, Kathy.
"I think that, in the case of this Hilton & Hyland stuff, I can't speak for Kyle on any level, but my gut is that there was probably [only] so far she wanted to go on her show because she didn't want to further complicate an already-complicated relationship with her sister, so there you go," Andy said.
"But I did take the opportunity [on Part 3 of the RHOBH reunion] as we were discussing what happened with Mauricio and Kyle's marriage, to also find out from Kathy and Kyle from their perspective what happened with the split between Mauricio and Rick Hilton..." he added
During the RHOBH Season 13 reunion, Kathy spoke on where she stands with Mauricio today. "Even though you go through things with people, he's my family," she said. "He's my nieces' father."
Watch The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills on Peacock.
