So True? So False? Did Russell Armstrong Throw His Wife a $60,000 Birthday Party Before He Died?!

Duo appeared to live a pretty extravagant lifestyle, both together and apart, and Beverly Hills soirees can end up costing way more than five figures, so...

By Natalie Finn, Ken Baker Aug 23, 2011 8:56 PMTags
Taylor Armstrong, Russell ArmstrongANDREAS BRANCH/patrickmcmullan.com/Sipa Press

Russell and Taylor Armstrong were having problems long before she pulled the plug on their marriage in July, but they still spent time together after the split. But just how much fun were they having after Taylor filed for divorce?

Russell, who had recently been sued and was struggling financially, reportedly dropped $60,000 on a lavish 40th birthday party for his wife at Beacher's Madhouse in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel just weeks before he committed suicide.

Now, it would appear that the folks on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills lead pretty extravagant lifestyles. And $60,000 isn't unheard of for a party in the Armstrongs' neck of the woods!

Hang onto your platinum Amex, folks, because this report is...

So false!

A source tells E! News that Russell did indeed throw a party at Beacher's Madhouse for Taylor, but that "all" he did was reserve two tables for $1,000 apiece.

Our eyes are still a bit wide, but there's a big difference between $2,000 and $60,000. Incidentally, the original RadarOnline report about Taylor's big-time B-day bash has since been taken down.

But if that magic five-figure number sounds familiar...it is!

Taylor dished to E! News in December about the $60,000 party they threw for their daughter Kennedy when she turned 4. (Yup, 4.)

"I don't give my daughter that elaborate of a birthday party every year," she said nonchalantly. "Next year I'm sure it'll be much less extravagant."

But the free-flowing money didn't mean that Russell and Taylor didn't have their problems. "It's a work in progress," she said of her seven-year marriage. "We're doing the best we can and really focusing on our family."

Russell's attorney, Ronald Richards, told E! News after his client died that Russell had "seemed fine" when they spoke two days before his suicide, but that the husband and father of three (two children from other relationships) had indeed been depressed by the state of his marriage and finances.