UPDATE! On Thursday, Sandoval brought his Instagram back online to share a message regarding his lawsuit against Ariana. The ‘Vanderpump Rules’ star ensured his followers that he did not realize that his actions meant he was suing his ex, and is blaming unclear legal advice from his attorney, whom he has since fired.
“Late Tuesday afternoon, my attorney Matt Geragos, whose advice I trusted, called me about the Cross-Complaint in the lawsuit against myself and Ariana [filed by Rachel],” Sandoval wrote. “He assured me that the action was customary and strictly preventative in these types of lawsuits and urged me to agree to it. The words ‘New Lawsuit’ or ‘Suing’ were not articulated to me. I should’ve done more of my due diligence on the matter.
“Upon realizing what this action actually means, I have removed Matt Geragos from my legal team. I am in no way suing Ariana,” Tom continued. “The action against Ariana brought on my behalf is being removed. I hold no ill will or vindictiveness toward Ariana.
“Now, by removing both the Cross-Complaint and the attorney who recommended it, I hope to get through this case quickly, so that Ariana and I can both finally MOVE ON with our lives.”
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Original story:
The legal hits just keep coming for Ariana Madix.
The Vanderpump Rules star was hit with not one but two new lawsuits this week– piling on top of the lawsuit filed by Rachel Leviss earlier this year that Ariana is already fighting against, and a legal battle with her ex Tom Sandoval over the house they both own.
On Thursday, TMZ broke the news that Ariana and her business partner Katie Maloney are being sued by Penny Davidi Borsuk, the former COO/Director of Culinary at their West Hollywood sandwich shop, Something About Her. In her lawsuit, Penny claims that Ariana and Katie reneged on their deal to give her a 10% partnership for her work in getting the restaurant off the ground. She claims that Ariana and Katie are denying that any such partnership exists.
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Penny– who has appeared on ‘Vanderpump Rules’— also states that Katie and Ariana have not paid her the salary she was promised— reportedly $7,500 a month until January, when it was supposed to increase to $10k a month.
News of Penny’s lawsuit against Ariana comes just two days after Us Weekly reported that Ariana’s ex (and ‘VP’ co-star) Tom Sandoval has slapped Ariana Madix with a lawsuit for breaking into his phone and viewing NSFW footage of him and Rachel Leviss that was made during Tom’s affair with her.
No. Seriously.
As ‘Vanderpump Rules’ fans know, Ariana discovered that Rachel and Sandoval were having an affair on March 1, 2023 after she found several NSFW videos of Rachel on Sandoval’s phone. Ariana went on to confront Sandoval with the videos she found, and thus began the long saga known as “Sandoval.” (Rachel is currently suing both Sandoval and Ariana over the videos, which she claims Ariana distributed to other people after watching them. That lawsuit is ongoing.)
In Sandoval’s suit against Ariana, he claims that Ariana accessed the videos on his phone without his permission, and watched the videos without his “authorization or permission.”
The suit claims that Ariana also distributed copies of the video to Rachel and others after she found them.
According to People, Sandoval is claiming that Ariana “invaded [his] right to privacy” by gaining “unauthorized and unpermitted access to, use of and copying of the data on [his] cell phone and her distribution of [the data] to Leviss.”
He also states that Ariana is “guilty of oppression, fraud, or malice” because she “acted with the intent to vex, injure, or annoy [Sandoval] and/or with a willful and conscious disregard of [Sandoval]’s rights.”
In his lawsuit, Sandoval is asking for punitive damages from Ariana.
After Sandoval’s lawsuit was filed, Ariana’s attorney Jordan Susman issued a statement to Us Weekly.
“It is abhorrent that Tom Sandoval continues to torment Ms. Madix. From engaging in an illicit affair that shattered her home and stability, to months of emotional warfare and now this attempt to further shirk personal responsibility for the effects his actions have had on her and her emotional wellbeing,” Ariana’s lawyer stated. “Tom Sandoval knows full well what sort of privileges he and Ms. Madix shared in regard to their personal communication devices.”
Ariana’s lawyer continued, and did not hold back.
“For Mr. Sandoval to go from begging Ms. Madix for forgiveness to blaming her for his wrongdoing speaks for itself,” he continued. “Even months after The New York Times branded Mr. Sandoval ‘the most hated man in America,’ he has clearly learned nothing and believes it necessary to continue torturing Ms. Madix in a vain effort to rehabilitate his image. Ms. Madix is confident that a jury will see through this latest ploy and dismiss his frivolous claims.”
In a statement issued to Us Weekly, Sandoval’s attorney hinted that this new lawsuit against Ariana is related to Rachel’s lawsuit against both exes, and was done to try to legally separate the actions of Ariana and Sandoval.
“While Tom Sandoval accepts responsibility for his affair, he strongly denies the allegations of the lawsuit filed by Rachel Leviss against him and Ms. Madix,” the statement read. “In order to ensure a fair and just determination of responsibility among all parties involved, we filed a cross complaint on behalf of Mr. Sandoval. This customary legal action was crucial to ensure that liability, if any, is fairly distributed based on the actual level of involvement and fault of each party. We aim to resolve this legal dispute with upmost respect towards all parties involved.”
After news broke that Sandoval is now suing Ariana, their fellow ‘Vanderpump Rules’ cast member Scheana Shay blasted him on her Instagram Stories.
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“Tom Sandoval, s**t thing to do after a sh**ty thing you already did. Like, what are you thinking? This is not someone I want to be friends with. This is not who I align in my values with,” Scheana said, adding that she feels dumb for sticking up for Sandoval.
“Call me a f**king idiot, okay? I said it at the finale, ‘Don’t make me look like an idiot.’ Well, you did,” Scheana said.
“I think it’s cruel, I think it’s vile, I think it negates any remorse that you tried to show at the reunion saying Raquel was a coward,” Scheana ranted. “Y’all were together for like a decade. You shared a mortgage. You shared passcodes. She knew your password. So, this invasion of privacy? F**k off.”
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Tom has since deleted his Instagram account but Ariana’s angry fans are flocking to the Instagram page of his bar, Schwartz & Sandy’s to leave angry comments. Although comments have been limited on the page’s most-recent posts, fans still flooded a post from March with negative comments about Sandoval and his lawsuit.
“How is anyone still in business with Scumdoval? How do you TRUST a man who denounces his X side piece as ‘having NO soul’ for suing Ariana.. then sues Ariana!!!” a fan wrote.
Another stated, “Suing your ex after you cheat on her! He is BROKE broke. Would not want to be associated with him, run Schwartz.”
‘Vanderpump Rules’ is not currently in production, so it’s unlikely that any of the lawsuit drama will make it on ‘Vanderpump Rules,’ should the show get another season.
(Photos: Bravo; Instagram)
8 Responses
So many stupid people clogging up the courts with middle school drama. Judgement: they all suck.
I think he should have been able to proceed. They essentially gang-banged him for a year or more and obviously made his life a living hell. Yes, he was wrong, but let’s have some perspective. People cheating is not the same as rape or murder after all.
It’s Friday, if anyone else would like to sue Ariana as well.
Wait why did Sandoval hire the same lawyer as Rachel?!?!? 🤔
They’re brothers. Not the same person. I also believe they are in separate practices…but not sure about that. Mark (Rachel’s guy) is also involved in Bethenny’s reality reckoning drama. He was a very very well respected lawyer who represented Scott Peterson for Laci’s murder. And also Michael Jackson (if I remember correctly) for something. Now he’s a reality tv guy apparently 🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️go figure….
He’s vile.