Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss Getty Images (2)
One year in, the legend of Scandoval continues to grow, and it’s getting really ugly.
Vanderpump Rules star Rachel “Raquel” Leviss is suing costars and former couple Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix, alleging revenge porn, eavesdropping, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress, according to court documents obtained by Us Weekly.
Sandoval, meanwhile, appears to be taking the news in stride. The reality star, 41, enjoyed a romantic date night with girlfriend Victoria Lee Robinson on Thursday, February 29, hours after Leviss filed her lawsuit, and he’s all smiles in the short clip that Robinson posted.
In the video, the pair appear to be on a hike around sunset. Sandoval reaches out for Robinson’s hand, flashing a toothy grin as they walk together. For a few seconds anyway, Sandoval did not seem worried by his legal troubles.
When viewers were introduced to staff at Lisa Vanderpump‘s restaurant during Vanderpump Rules‘ 2013 premiere, it was clear everyone was intertwined in one another’s love lives. From Stassi Schroeder‘s rocky relationship with Jax Taylor, which took a turn when he hooked up with her best friend Kristen Doute, to Peter Madrigal’s casual connections to several […]
In the suit, Sandoval is accused of recording “sexually explicit videos of [Leviss] without her knowledge or consent.”
One of the videos in question appears to be the one at the heart of the Scandoval drama that rocked reality TV in 2023. Madix, then Sandoval’s girlfriend, discovered that Sandoval had been cheating on her with Leviss, 29, when she found a sexually explicit video of the two of them on Sandoval’s phone.
Victoria Lee Robinson and Tom Sandoval Courtesy of Victoria Lee Robinson/Instagram
The suit alleges that Sandoval possesses multiple videos of Leviss “in a state of undress and engaged in sex acts,” and that Madix, 38, obtained at least two, disseminating them without Leviss’ consent.
While Leviss does not name Bravo in the lawsuit, the suit does claim that the network had every incentive to publicize the incident, subjecting her to months of personal turmoil and public torment.
While some things never change, the cast of Vanderpump Rules is used to a shake-up … and a touch-up. Vanderpump Rules was introduced to Bravo viewers during a special episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in January 2013. Season 1 starred Lisa Vanderpump, who was a Beverly Hills Housewife at the time, Stassi […]
“It is clear that Bravo deliberately sacrificed Leviss for the sake of its commercial interests from its refusal to allow her the opportunity to tell her side of the story and defend herself, which she repeatedly begged for permission to do,” the lawsuit states.
As the scandal played out on national TV, Leviss “ultimately checked herself into a mental health facility and remained there for three months while Bravo, Evolution and the cast milked the interest her excoriation had peaked.”
The lawsuit continues: “Meanwhile, Leviss, who was humiliated and villainized for public consumption, remains a shell of her former self, with her career prospects stunted and her reputation in tatters.”
Leviss said Bravo and Evolution misled her into believing she could not speak out about the incident.
Sandoval has not commented publicly since being named in the lawsuit. He confirmed his relationship with Robinson last month, revealing on VPR costar Billie Lee’s podcast that he’s known Robinson “for a really long time.”
