The Scandoval fallout is here to stay– at least until late 2025. 

According to Deadline, a judge rules Thursday that the lawsuit filed in February by Rachel Leviss against her former Vanderpump Rules co-stars Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix will move forward to trial, despite Sandoval and Ariana’s attempts to have the case thrown out. 

As of now, the case is set to got to trial on November 3, 2025.

As The Ashley previously told you, Rachel is suing Sandoval for Eavesdropping; Ariana for claims of Revenge P0rn; and both for Invasion of Privacy and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress. Rachel’s complaint cites alleged NSFW FaceTime videos involving her and Sandoval–- which were discovered on Sandoval’s phone by Ariana in March 2023, ultimately exposing Sandoval and Rachel’s months-long affair–- that Rachel claims were recorded by Sandoval without her knowledge or consent. She also alleges that Ariana obtained at least two of the videos and “distributed them and/or showed them to others” without her consent.

Ariana has denied sharing the video(s) with third parties and filed a motion in June demanding the lawsuit be tossed under the anti-SLAPP statute, which protects California residents from litigation that violates their right to free speech. 

A hearing was held Thursday on Ariana’s motion, after which LA Superior Court Judge Daniel Crowley argued that the Love Island host’s “conduct is not protected under the anti-SLAPP statute because [Ariana’s] alleged conduct was illegal as a matter of law,” according to Deadline. 

Sandoval– who has also denied all allegations of wrongdoing– filed a motion to dismiss the suit in April, though the following month, Judge Crowley ordered that Rachel be granted the ability to move forward with the lawsuit, according to People.

(Earlier this year, Judge earlier this year removed the emotional distress claim from the lawsuit.)

In response to Judge Crowley’s order, Rachel’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, told Deadline he was “pleased at the Court’s recognition that [Ariana’s] actions were illegal.”

“[Ariana] does not have a free speech right to break into her boyfriend’s phone, steal sexually compromising videos of another woman, and disseminate them to menace and terrorize her,” he continued. “Her actions went well beyond protected speech, and her anger at Rachel provides no legal cover for lashing out in violation of multiple criminal laws.”

Another one of Rachel’s lawyers, Jason Sunshine, defended their accusation that Ariana committed revenge p0rn when she allegedly showed the sexy-time videos of Rachel that she discovered on Sandoval’s phone to others. 

“The law suggests that anything beyond the expressly authorized dissemination of pornographic materials constitutes revenge porn,” he said on Thursday before the hearing, according to Deadline. “The act was intended to menace [Rache], to terrorize her, to put her on notice that Ms. Madix knows about the affair and hates her.”

Rachel and her legal team are also asking the judge to make sure all copies of the video(s) in question be destroyed, and that an injuction ensures that no one else will see it.

As The Ashley previously reported, while Bravo, NBC Universal and Evolution Media– the production company behind ‘Vanderpump Rules’– are mentioned in Rachel’s lawsuit, they are not yet named as defendants. However, Rachel reportedly informed the court last month that Bravo, NBCU and Evolution Media were allegedly “involved in some manner in the events and circumstances giving rise to [her] lawsuit,” and therefore, she may amend her complaint against Sandoval and Ariana to include the three parties. 

RELATED STORY: Rachel Leviss Says She “Sincerely” Misses Her Former ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Co-Stars: “I Miss Everyone Except For James [Kennedy]” 

(Photos: Bravo)