Rossi

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In December 2007, Rossi was a 30-year-old real estate agent who became engaged to her wealthy boyfriend, 53-year-old Jeff Beitzel. That same month doctors diagnosed Beitzel with acute leukemia. He spent the next 10 months in and out of the hospital until he died in September 2008. Rossi regularly cared for and visited Beitzel in the hospital, and when he was not hospitalized the couple lived together. In early 2008, while Beitzel was in the midst of his battle with leukemia, Rossi was approached about joining the reality television show “Real Housewives of Orange County” as one of the “housewives.” Rossi decided to join the show and began filming during the summer of 2008. As a principal cast member, camera crews followed Rossi and recorded much of her daily life as she visited Beitzel in the hospital, spent time

3 with her family, and also attended parties and a variety of social events with her friends. The show invited viewers to decide whether Rossi was a saintly figure devoted to caring for her sick fiancé, or a party girl only interested in his money. Several of the episodes focused on Rossi and her relationship with Beitzel. Photoglou, a car…