Britani Bateman is speaking out after what she says turned into a terrifying situation involving her ex-husband, one that unfolded while she was hundreds of miles away filming Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.
According to a police report, obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune, Bateman was in New York City earlier this month when she began receiving a wave of strange phone calls and text messages from people she didn’t know. The situation escalated after screenshots were sent to her showing a comment left on a TikTok video she had collaborated on — a comment that allegedly exposed her personal cellphone number.
The post reportedly included her phone number alongside the message, “there ya go. Give her a call.”
“With her phone number being leaked,” Lehi police Officer Tanner Kirkham wrote, “she has had individuals go to her home, and she had to change her phone number.”
Bateman’s ex-husband, John Scott Pace Underwood, is now facing multiple charges. He has been charged with unlawful electronic disclosure of personal identifying information, a class B misdemeanor, for allegedly posting the comment in early December.
But that’s not the only legal trouble he’s facing.
Underwood, 59, was already under a protection order prohibiting him from contacting Bateman — an order that’s been in place since June 22, 2023, well before Bateman appeared as a “friend” on RHOSLC in September 2024.
Prosecutors have charged him with a class A misdemeanor for allegedly violating that order, along with one count of stalking of a cohabitant, a third-degree felony.
Charging documents allege that Underwood “has engaged in a campaign of harassment” against Bateman, identified as “BB” and described as someone “on a reality television show,” since the protection order was issued.
“Acts have included following BB and staring at her from the distance allotted by the protective order,” one statement reads. The allegations go on to include “re-routing BB’s mail from her private post office box to himself; cashing BB’s checks; going to BB’s Provo home and breaking into her electrical box, interrupting power to the house; and driving by her house in a gated community where he has no reason to be.”
Underwood is also accused of continuing to comment on Bateman’s social media accounts despite being barred from all direct or indirect contact.
“He has also posted comments on her social media posts, despite being restricted from all direct or indirect contact or communication,” Officer Kirkham stated in the filing dated Dec. 16 in Utah’s 4th District Court.
Underwood was arrested and later released on his own recognizance. He has since been issued a new restraining order, instructed to stay away from Bateman, barred from contacting her in any form, and ordered to surrender any firearms he owns.
Meanwhile, the police report notes that the messages Bateman received from strangers after her phone number was shared were “both kind and unpleasant.” According to her social media activity, Bateman was in New York at the time filming the season 6 reunion for Real Housewives and performing in a cabaret revue.
The case highlights a broader issue, according to Erin Jemison of the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition.
She noted that it’s far more common for stalking victims to be targeted by someone they know rather than a stranger. Speaking generally, Jemison said stalking cases can be difficult to prosecute.
“Often there is not concrete evidence,” she explained. “A victim will call and say, ‘He’s circling my house,’ and if they can’t happen to catch it on their phone by the time law enforcement gets there, they can’t show that’s what happened.”
Jemison also shared that the number of stalking reports in Utah in 2025 was nearly double what was reported in 2021.
Utah lawmakers are now working on legislation that would add a domestic-violence designation to certain privacy-related crimes, including planting tracking devices on vehicles. According to Jemison, that designation would allow prosecutors to pursue harsher penalties when there’s an established pattern of abuse.
She emphasized that domestic violence doesn’t always look the way people expect.
“Domestic violence doesn’t have to be physical abuse,” she said. “Sometimes there’s this kind of stereotype that [domestic violence is] just going to a shelter if you get punched.”
For now, the legal process is ongoing — and Bateman’s situation serves as a sobering reminder of how quickly online harassment can turn into real-world danger.