Not enough can be said about Tom Schwartz. It’s an issue of guilt by association at this point. He simply will not take a tougher stance on his bestie Tom Sandoval for his affair with Raquel Leviss. And Schwartz is taking a lot of heat for it. Especially considering he cannot eloquently justify WHY will not condemn his Schwartz & Sandy’s co-owner.
Schwartz’s recent visit to the Watch What Happens Live clubhouse warranted “media training“, according to his ex-wife Katie Maloney. The visit was ridiculed by all. Except for Schwartz’s Summer House friend Kyle Cooke.
Us Weekly reported that Vanderpump Rules alum Jax Taylor suggested Schwartz stop “protecting” Sandoval. The former SUR bartender is one of many involved with VPR to condemn Schwartz. And he did so, with his wife Brittany Cartwright on their When Reality Hits podcast.
“I love Tom, but gosh, that was hard for me to watch,” Jax said. “I knew he was going to get hit hard with the questions, and he did.” Jax agreed with host Andy Cohen’s description of Schwartz’s comments as “word salad.” It was a lot of sounds, with little cohesive reasoning.
“He was throwing out all these big words,” Jax continued. “I think he was dodging it. I’m like, ‘Tom, why are you protecting this guy? He is literally ruining your life. He’s putting you between a rock and a hard place.’”
But Schwartz claimed Sandoval is well aware of the negative public opinion. And here’s where he segued into the “hug” comment that Lala Kent put him on blast for. “He knows he’s a monster for what he did,” Schwartz said during the sit-down. “If you see him, maybe give him a hug. Even if he doesn’t deserve it, give him a hug. He’s down bad.”
Jax also took offense to the suggestion. He said, “The world has already made its opinion on Tom. There’s nothing you’re gonna say on this show that’s gonna change anybody’s mind. They’ve had their minds made up. Stop protecting him. You need to get a little bit of a backbone.”
At least Jax was amused by Schwartz’s wrist weights. He wore the weights to break the habit of constantly touching his face in reaction to social media comments. Jax called the action, “hilarious.”
Schwartz needs all the help he can get, even from the likes of Jax. According to the former SUR bartender, Schwartz came for a visit before flying to New York City for the WWHL segment. Jax suggested Schwartz control his hand movement. As a result, the VPR star got the weights delivered through Amazon. At some point during the interview, the weights came off.
However, the gloves stayed on. Schwartz gave details about Sandoval and Raquel’s affair but without any condemnation of the action. The Minnesota native claimed Sandoval informed him of a “one-night stand” with Raquel in August 2022. Sandoval also said he would break up with Ariana Madix before she found out.
Sandoval confirmed the information he gave Schwartz during his interview on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast. An interview that did him no favors. Not with public opinion, nor with Bravo executives.
Sandoval spoke of the moments he tried to break up with Ariana. He said, “Obviously, she was very upset. She freaking punched me and all this s–t. A couple days later, I sit down and talk with her again, and she’s like, ‘I’m not letting you leave me. You’re gonna have to force me out of this relationship.’ I was like, ‘Ariana, I don’t think I could be faithful in a relationship with you right now.’ I hadn’t told her about Raquel yet. She’s like, ‘If you break up with me, you will effectively be ending my life.’”
Was all this worth it for Sandoval? He supposedly is not even with Raquel in the end. “We’re really good friends,” he explained. “We’re not putting any label on it. We’re taking a break,” Tom said.
Sandoval answered “Not right now,” when asked if he and Raquel were still sleeping together. Meanwhile, Raquel made a very public display of checking into a mental health facility in the wake of public backlash for the affair.
TELL US- IS SCHWARTZ PROTECTING SANDOVAL? WHAT SHOULD HE DO OR SAY TO IMPROVE PUBLIC OPINION? DID HE KNOW MORE THAN HE WAS SAYING?
[Photo Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo]
