Tom Sandoval, Rachel Leviss.
Getty Images (2)lawyers for Tom Sandoval demand Rachel “Raquel” LevissThe revenge porn lawsuit filed against him will be dismissed or amended, according to court documents obtained by Us weekly.
Documents filed Monday, April 22, argue that the lawsuit is “a thinly veiled attempt at an extension.” [Leviss’] fame and portraying herself as a victim” while “denigrating her former friend.” [Ariana Madix] as a ‘despised woman’ and her former lover Sandoval as ‘predatory’.”
Leviss and Sandoval’s public drama played out at Bravo’s Vanderpump Rules since last year, sparked by an incident in which Sandoval’s ex Madix discovered explicit videos of Leviss on his phone while the two were together.
Leviss filed the lawsuit in February 2024, accusing Sandoval, 40, and Madix, 38, of wiretapping, revenge porn and invasion of privacy. Legal documents from Sandoval’s lawyers attempt to discredit these claims.
Several Vanderpump Rules stars have stepped away from the Bravo series over the years. Cameras began following the staff at Lisa Vanderpump’s West Hollywood restaurant SUR in 2012 after she found fame on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” The first season of Pump Rules, which premiered in January 2013, starred Lisa, Stassi Schroeder and Jax […]
The documents allege that Leviss further established herself as a victim by adding “irrelevant but inflammatory allegations of… persecution by multiple non-partisans” to the lawsuit, including Bravo, VPR Costar Scheana Shay And Andy Cohen. Leviss’ podcast Rachel Goes Rogue is also mentioned, claiming the show is intended to “further bend the narrative to her will.”
Raquel Leviss and Tom Sandoval attend White Fox After Hours at Delilah Los Angeles on October 18, 2022.
Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for CLD PR / White FoxAll of Leviss’ claims, according to the filing, are based on what she believes is a false claim that Sandoval “secretly” recorded two lewd videos of Leviss.
“However, these videos were created by Leviss and released by Leviss to Sandoval via a consensual exchange on Facetime,” the documents say. “Based on Leviss’ own allegations, Sandoval merely stored private copies of the videos that Leviss filmed and shared with him.”
When these videos eventually became public, Leviss claimed in her lawsuit that Bravo and her castmates continued to profit from the buzz they created.
“It is clear that Bravo intentionally sacrificed Leviss in the interests of its commercial interests, as Bravo denied her the opportunity to tell her side of the story and defend herself, which she repeatedly begged for permission to do,” her lawsuit said.
The Vanderpump Rules cast members have shared insight into how much they earned during their respective tenures on the hit Bravo series. The topic of paychecks has come up in various circumstances over the years since Vanderpump Rules debuted in 2013. After Raquel Leviss and Tom Sandoval’s shocking affair behind Ariana Madix’s back – that came […]
Leviss later revealed that she had spent 90 days in a psychiatric treatment facility amid the fallout. She claimed she was “humiliated and vilified for public consumption, [and] remains a shell of her former self, her career prospects have withered and her reputation is in tatters.”
Leviss also said on her podcast that she can’t comment much publicly on the lawsuit, but it wasn’t an easy decision to take legal action.
“It took me a long time to really decide whether to press charges or not. And I felt like it was important to bring this up,” Leviss said. “This is not a criminal complaint. It’s like a civil lawsuit. But my privacy was violated in a very intimate, unsuspecting way. And it’s embarrassing and not something I’m proud of at all.”
Vanderpump Rules airs Tuesdays at 8pm ET on Bravo.