Vanderpump Rules alum Rachel Leviss claims Tom Sandoval “wore down my defenses” and took advantage of her vulnerable mental state. Following her breakup with former fiancé James Kennedy, she felt “isolated,” according to a statement in her revenge porn case.
The affair between Tom and Rachel, famously dubbed #Scandoval, took place over seven months beginning in August 2022. When news of their relationship broke in March 2023, Bravo fans were stunned. Tom’s girlfriend of nine years, Ariana Madix, learned that her boyfriend was cheating on her when she found explicit videos of Rachel on his phone.
In February 2024, Rachel filed suit against both Tom and Ariana. She accused Tom of recording FaceTime videos showing her “in a state of undress and masturbating” without her “knowledge or consent.” She also alleged that Ariana “distributed [the videos] and/or showed them to others.”
Ariana fights back
According to RadarOnline, Rachel’s statement to the court gives her version of the events leading up to the lawsuit.
Not only is Ariana demanding the suit be tossed out, but she denies ever sharing any explicit videos with anybody. She also filed a motion to have her name removed from the suit under California’s anti-SLAPP statute, which protects Californians from any litigation that violates their right to free speech.
Rachel’s legal team responded that her lawsuit was not “an attack on [Ariana’s] right to speak freely about matters of public concern,” as the Love Island USA host claimed. In addition, they argued that Ariana’s actions “cannot be protected by the anti-SLAPP statute because it was illegal.”
On June 28, Rachel submitted a letter to the court that called Ariana “a principal contributor to my emotional distress.” She also detailed her experience with the show from her first appearance as James’ girlfriend up to the Scandoval tsunami that left her “in an extremely dark and scary place mentally.” Following the Season 10 Pump Rules Reunion, Rachel’s parents admitted her to a health facility to recover her mental well-being. She remained there for three months.
Rachel tells all
“After breaking off my engagement to [James], I became increasingly isolated,” she wrote in her statement. Following their breakup in late 2021, Rachel “began to confide in Sandoval,” and the pair “became increasingly close.”
She “began to rely on [Sandoval] for emotional support,” Rachel wrote. “He, in turn, began to confide in me about the dire state of his relationship with [Ariana], describing it as a business partnership.”
“I viewed Sandoval as a close confidante and friend, and our relationship as platonic,” she added. “It became increasingly clear, however, that Sandoval had different intentions.”
“By the Summer of 2022, Sandoval had worn down my defenses,” Rachel wrote. She claimed they “started sleeping together in August and continued doing so through the early months of 2023.”
The couple “regularly communicated” through FaceTime, “sometimes sexually,” she said, emphasizing that these conversations were “confidential.” Rachel described the calls as “private communications reflecting a clandestine affair.” She alleged recordings of their private conversations were captured without her knowledge, while she was “in a private residence.”
“Sandoval never asked my permission to record them, and I was not aware he was doing so,” she said. “Had he asked, I would have said no. If I had known he had done so anyway, I would have been furious and demanded he delete them.”
All episodes of Vanderpump Rules are streaming on Peacock.
TELL US – SHOULD TOM AND ARIANA BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR DISTRIBUTING THE PRIVATE VIDEOS?
