Ashley Darby: This Come-Up Looks Rundown

[drivethroo]

I just hope

Spoiler

 

if all of this is true, that her mother doesn't convince her to stay so Momma's bills can get paid and belly fed.  Momma still young enough to work and I wouldn't be surprised if she stayed as long as she did was because Sheila pressured her to stay for her own needs.  I've already stated in the past I didn't understand why she never worked as an agent with Michael's company; I think she's a natural for it.  

Honestly after hearing Robyn talk about Juan on her podcast, I don't think Michael would have any chance with Juan unless he liked to play video games.  Good riddance! (if true)

 

 

[Keywestclubkid]

Sad for the kids but yay for no more super creep after all this mess tho 

[drivethroo]

Ashley has confirmed the separation.

[Ms.Lulu]

2 hours ago, drivethroo said:

Ashley has confirmed the separation.

Divorce is rarely easy.  I hope Ashley has a good support system.

[drivethroo]

11 hours ago, Ms.Lulu said:

Divorce is rarely easy.  I hope Ashley has a good support system.

That's what I'm afraid of, because Sheila is the type who would urge Ashley to stay with Michael so Sheila can continue to live off of Ashley.  But it doesn't matter because Sheila is going to suck Ashley dry whether she stays with Michael or not.

[qtpye]

2 hours ago, drivethroo said:

That's what I'm afraid of, because Sheila is the type who would urge Ashley to stay with Michael so Sheila can continue to live off of Ashley.  But it doesn't matter because Sheila is going to suck Ashley dry whether she stays with Michael or not.

That woman is always going to be in Ashley's pockets and manipulating her life. She's Mama Joyce part 2.

[LaurelleJ]

We saw the episode where they renegotiated their prenup and since Ashley stuck it out for more years, she is entitled to considerably more. In her words, half. The timing is unfortunate, because Dylan is just one. So the marriage broke down beyond repair during his first year of life? Obviously they had problems before that, but the final straws occurred during his first year? I just feel bad for the kids. 

Regardless of how I feel about Ashley and Michael individually and together, and boy do I have feelings, I hope that the children don't suffer from the relationship between the parents. 

[drivethroo]

6 hours ago, LaurelleJ said:

We saw the episode where they renegotiated their prenup and since Ashley stuck it out for more years, she is entitled to considerably more. In her words, half.

But she admitted on WWHL she never signed it.  And whatever agreement probably states she would get have of all assets acquired during the marriage. The Porsche she got was probably a lease, the Audi is probably a lease, they never bought any property together and he'll fix it to look like he was operating at a loss during the marriage and thus made little money.

I just don't think Ashley is about to get paid like she and the audience thinks she is UNLESS she has some concrete proof of Michael's wrongdoings that he doesn't want put out there in public.  Maybe Monique's magic security tape will mysteriously pop up now.

Ashley shouldn't be singing about getting paid and securing bags on her IG until the check clearas.

[pasdetrois]

Ashley is on title for the Arlington penthouse condo. She and Michael share ownership of that valuable property (everything in Arlington is valuable).

Edited April 21, 2022 by pasdetrois

[drivethroo]

9 hours ago, pasdetrois said:

Ashley is on title for the Arlington penthouse condo. She and Michael share ownership of that valuable property (everything in Arlington is valuable).

A 1970s tri-level in  Arlington is nearly a million dollars so that penthouse is at least 2 million.

He'll probably buy her out of her share of the penthouse (that will be her settlement) and she can go and buy a nice home somewhere in the DMV.  I wouldn't be surprised if she moved to Maryland (unless Michael prohibits it).

I just feel like whatever Ashley gets, Sheila will suck her dry.

 

[Hiyo]

Sheila is like RHOA's Joyce, except in that case, Kandi can afford to take care of her hosebeast of a mother on her own.

[pasdetrois]

15 hours ago, drivethroo said:

A 1970s tri-level in  Arlington is nearly a million dollars so that penthouse is at least 2 million.

Agreed, or close to it. It was valued at about $1.3M a couple of years ago.

[Jennifersdc]

Ashley decided she finally had enough public humiliation?

When she married him he was pretty much down professionally wise and he’s now back to running with the big dogs so wonder how this will effect the settlement.
 

Remember though - he uses very little of his own money with these big projects. He’ll be getting fees, but generally he won’t get his big earn-out until they are sold and he likely is dealing with long term investors. She’s going to need a very good divorce lawyer working with a really good real estate attorney.

[lasu]

On 4/20/2022 at 3:31 PM, LaurelleJ said:

The timing is unfortunate, because Dylan is just one. So the marriage broke down beyond repair during his first year of life? Obviously they had problems before that, but the final straws occurred during his first year? I just feel bad for the kids. 

FWIW, my parents divorced before I was two, and I've always been grateful that if they were going to divorce, they did it so early.  I never knew anything different, and as an adult, I get that having a baby probably pushed my parents over the edge, but I've never had any guilt about that.  Babies are tough on marriages, not my fault.  The other side being kids whose parents divorce when they are a bit older (esp elementary/middle school age) tend to take on a lot of guilt that THEY could have done things differently and kept their parents from divorcing.

There were the usual drawbacks of having divorced parents, but they seemed generally the same as everyone else's.  I think overall it was better for ME, the child, that they divorced before my memories started forming.  I certainly wish all of them the best through this.

[qtpye]

33 minutes ago, lasu said:

FWIW, my parents divorced before I was two, and I've always been grateful that if they were going to divorce, they did it so early.  I never knew anything different, and as an adult, I get that having a baby probably pushed my parents over the edge, but I've never had any guilt about that.  Babies are tough on marriages, not my fault.  The other side being kids whose parents divorce when they are a bit older (esp elementary/middle school age) tend to take on a lot of guilt that THEY could have done things differently and kept their parents from divorcing.

There were the usual drawbacks of having divorced parents, but they seemed generally the same as everyone else's.  I think overall it was better for ME, the child, that they divorced before my memories started forming.  I certainly wish all of them the best through this.

That is a great attitude. It is heartbreaking when kids blame themselves for divorce.

Michael absolutely did not want to be a father to young children at this stage of his life and it is absolutely his fault for bringing those babies into the world when he knew he wanted to party and have fun.

Ashley is probably living the gold digger dream at this point

1. Marry a rich ugly older guy

2. Have a couple of kids

3. Get divorced with a good payout (maybe) and child support.

4. Do whatever the heck you want for the rest of your life.

I hope the kids are taken care of and are okay.

[LaurelleJ]

4 hours ago, lasu said:

FWIW, my parents divorced before I was two, and I've always been grateful that if they were going to divorce, they did it so early.  I never knew anything different, and as an adult, I get that having a baby probably pushed my parents over the edge, but I've never had any guilt about that.  Babies are tough on marriages, not my fault.  The other side being kids whose parents divorce when they are a bit older (esp elementary/middle school age) tend to take on a lot of guilt that THEY could have done things differently and kept their parents from divorcing.

There were the usual drawbacks of having divorced parents, but they seemed generally the same as everyone else's.  I think overall it was better for ME, the child, that they divorced before my memories started forming.  I certainly wish all of them the best through this.

This is a great take. I'm glad that it worked out well for you and wish that it were that way for more children of divorced parents. I grew up in a two parent household, which unfortunately was more rare for my extended family. It was not the same situation. 

3 hours ago, qtpye said:

That is a great attitude. It is heartbreaking when kids blame themselves for divorce.

Michael absolutely did not want to be a father to young children at this stage of his life and it is absolutely his fault for bringing those babies into the world when he knew he wanted to party and have fun.

Ashley is probably living the gold digger dream at this point

1. Marry a rich ugly older guy

2. Have a couple of kids

3. Get divorced with a good payout (maybe) and child support.

4. Do whatever the heck you want for the rest of your life.

I hope the kids are taken care of and are okay.

Initially I didn't want to get too deep into it, but the part in bold was my thought when typing that post, not that the kids would feel guilty about them splitting up early in their lives. Things were rocky and they already separated once, and then they decided to get back together, have two kids, and then separate again. I don't think Michael even wanted more kids. 

[drivethroo]

On 4/28/2022 at 7:27 PM, LaurelleJ said:

Initially I didn't want to get too deep into it, but the part in bold was my thought when typing that post, not that the kids would feel guilty about them splitting up early in their lives. Things were rocky and they already separated once, and then they decided to get back together, have two kids, and then separate again. I don't think Michael even wanted more kids. 

Ashley is only a few years apart in age from the children of his first marriage.  He absolutely did not want to have more children.  He straight up said he felt Ashley would be a bad mother because of her mother. I initially didn't think she would get a hefty payout and I still don't, but I also think having her life chronicled on this show could help her because:

We saw her trying to work at the restaurant, yet Michael fired her on her day off.  She could argue he didn't want her to work (other than the show).  Ashley was a hard worker & devoted a lot of time to trying to make the restaurant a success, which Michael did not like (and why he fired her).

Multiple assault allegations against Michael*, yet she stayed dutiful and loyal to him

Controlling behavior, such as kicking her out of the house until she behaved, evicting her mother and not letting her have international on her phone when she was out of the country

Her assuming 99.99% of the child care, resulting in her having to bring the baby(ies) along with her on cast (work) outings

He could never say she was living it up on his dime, not with her Forever 21 fashions.

I think she will probably get the penthouse, a modest payout and child support.  That penthouse is easily worth a million and a half dollars and is a lot larger than what we've seen on TV.  It has a rooftop deck with awesome views of DC (seen only in Season 1).

 

*She can't get him on cheating.  He's never admitted on camera to cheating but she has admitted to stepping out herself and said they had an open marriage.  I wonder if the Samuels' basement security tapes will magically reappear?

Edited April 30, 2022 by drivethroo

[drivethroo]

42 minutes ago, drivethroo said:

We saw her trying to work at the restaurant, yet Michael fired her on her day off.  She could argue he didn't want her to work (other than the show).  Ashley was a hard worker & devoted a lot of time to trying to make the restaurant a success, which Michael did not like (and why he fired her).

And the ironic thing is if Michael had just let Ashley work hard at the restaurant, she may have put off having kids and then he wouldn't be on the hook for paying child support for the rest of his life.

[pasdetrois]

Ashley is no victim. She played the gold digger game successfully. Her mother was in on it, at least peripherally.

I think she and Michael concocted a lot of what we saw for a storyline.

I question whether she actually lived in an apartment in Alexandria. You can't just chunk someone out of their established residence, especially a spouse, even if they are not an owner, which I believe Ashley was not at the time. You must get permission to evict.

Ashley claims she wanted children, which I always assumed was part of her crafty long-term financial planning. She sure put on a motherly show for the cameras (the endless breast bumping, with a side of naked breasts). Perhaps she loves the children and will be a present, nurturing mother. Or will she hand them off to nannies most of the time, off-camera?

I think the only unscripted parts were Michael's drunken antics, which infuriated Ashley because Michael strayed from their script, and him exerting control over Oz. I suspect Ashley was flirting and partying too much at Oz for Michael's taste. A lot goes on in restaurants before and after hours.

They had an arrangement from the beginning, and now it's run its course.

Edited May 1, 2022 by pasdetrois

[Rlb8031]

23 hours ago, pasdetrois said:

I question whether she actually lived in an apartment in Alexandria. You can't just chunk someone out of their established residence, especially a spouse, even if they are not an owner, which I believe Ashley was not at the time. You must get permission to evict.

My thought was that they agreed to breakup and Michael provided either an apartment in one of his buildings or used his contacts to get her into something that she could leave. An eviction would only have been necessary if she refused to leave.

[qtpye]

On 5/1/2022 at 12:03 PM, pasdetrois said:

Ashley is no victim. She played the gold digger game successfully. Her mother was in on it, at least peripherally.

I think she and Michael concocted a lot of what we saw for a storyline.

I question whether she actually lived in an apartment in Alexandria. You can't just chunk someone out of their established residence, especially a spouse, even if they are not an owner, which I believe Ashley was not at the time. You must get permission to evict.

Ashley claims she wanted children, which I always assumed was part of her crafty long-term financial planning. She sure put on a motherly show for the cameras (the endless breast bumping, with a side of naked breasts). Perhaps she loves the children and will be a present, nurturing mother. Or will she hand them off to nannies most of the time, off-camera?

I think the only unscripted parts were Michael's drunken antics, which infuriated Ashley because Michael strayed from their script, and him exerting control over Oz. I suspect Ashley was flirting and partying too much at Oz for Michael's taste. A lot goes on in restaurants before and after hours.

They had an arrangement from the beginning, and now it's run its course.

I think she said and WWHL that they are still living together.

Either this is publicity to keep her place on the show (doesn't RHOP always seem to start with a Michael Darby scandal) or they might end up in a Juan and Robyn situation.

[drivethroo]

On 5/2/2022 at 9:04 PM, qtpye said:

Either this is publicity to keep her place on the show (doesn't RHOP always seem to start with a Michael Darby scandal) or they might end up in a Juan and Robyn situation.

This would actually be funny since she harassed Robyn for 3 seasons about living with Juan.

[NowVoyager]

Reportedly, Michael Darby is the largest land owner in Mogadishu, Somalia. This video has a lot of receipts, including a Wall Street Journal article from 2013 and Washington Post from 2016. It's interesting because Ashley said she wasn't sure how much he was worth.

 

Edited February 26, 2023 by NowVoyager

[NowVoyager]

Interestingly, this is old news. It is getting attention now because Ashley said she did not know how much Michael was worth when she discussing her prenups and potential settlement in their divorce.

Reportedly, Michael owns 40 acres near the airport. The land houses foreign soldiers. There is some influx of money from the US government and the United Nations. The grounds was used to film the movie "Black Hawk Down." There are ethical questions of war profiteering, and supporting terrorism due to the political situation in Somalia. There is some discussion of outside countries basically starting the civil war in Somalia so that they can swoop in and take advantage of them under the guise of humanitarian efforts. Reportedly Candiace tweeted: "Not a colonizer" recently, but I cannot find a screen grab at the moment. There is talk of this being one example of modern day colonialism.

Edited February 27, 2023 by NowVoyager

[NowVoyager]

Not sure when this was taken.

[NowVoyager]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/michael-and-ashley-darbys-plan-for-surviving-real-housewives-to-have-fun/2016/02/17/dace8a88-c50a-11e5-9693-933a4d31bcc8_story.html

 

[NowVoyager]

Looks like Ashley had a boob job. It's her business, but I thought she had such a lovely figure before. 🤷🏾‍♀️

 

[qtpye]

On 9/8/2023 at 11:19 AM, NowVoyager said:

Looks like Ashley had a boob job. It's her business, but I thought she had such a lovely figure before. 🤷🏾‍♀️

 

Ashley is the only person I have seen who looks more broke after marrying a rich man.

I thought Ashley was so bubbly and cute when the show started.