A new report reveals that Tom Sandoval is “crushed” by Raquel Leviss’ “shocking” lawsuit and that he will most likely settle with his former love interest and Vanderpump Rules co-star.
An insider tells DailyMail.com that Vanderpump Rules OG Tom Sandoval is “cushed” by Raquel Leviss’ “absolutely shocking” lawsuit as he believed she was “the one he would spend forever with.”
According to insiders, the aspiring musician wasn’t aware of Scandoval’s toll on Raquel. The 40-year-old hopes to settle the legal mess outside of court; however, Raquel seems intent on taking the lawsuit to trial.
“Tom is so crushed right now by this lawsuit,” a network insider revealed to DailyMail.com. “None of them ever realized that this would take the toll on Rachel that it did.”
The insider insisted that Tom Sandoval only had genuine intentions towards Raquel throughout their seven-month affair.
“Tom honestly thought that he and Rachel would ride off into the sunset together,” the source said. “He was obsessed with her. He loved her so much and was so sure that she was the one he would spend forever with. For her to turn around and sue him is so absolutely shocking.”
The insider continued: “She is demanding a jury trial. This would suck everyone into court and create a huge mess, so she will likely be paid off privately so that it does not get there. At the time, they all let their human emotions get the best of them and were not thinking about the ramification to their careers. Things were said on air to Rachel that would never be okay, such as Katie [Maloney] saying she wanted to light her on fire. Scheana [Shay] attacking Rachel and causing bodily harm is documented.”
“She was painted as the villain, and yes, [Raquel] was in negotiations to return for season 11 and could have returned if she wanted to. She chose to not do so to protect her mental health,” the insider added. “Instead, she sued the two people that she believed, through documented and sometimes filmed evidence, are responsible for inflicting irreversible trauma on her.”
In addition, the insider claimed that the “network and show treated her with respect,” noting that Raquel “had a good relationship with production.”
Bravo, NBCUniversal, Andy Cohen, and Vanderpump Rules were not named in Raquel’s lawsuit but are mentioned numerous times.
As AllAboutTRH reported, Raquel Leviss filed a lawsuit against Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix in Los Angeles Superior Court on February 29.
The 29-year-old is suing Sandoval and Ariana for “revenge porn, eavesdropping, invasion of privacy and inflicting emotional distress following 2023’s Scandoval drama.”
In the lawsuit, the former Vanderpump Rules star accuses Sandoval of “secretly recording their private communications and… capturing sexually explicit footage… without her knowledge or consent.”
The suit reads: “Leviss is informed and believes, and on such information and belief alleges, that the explicit videos were recorded by Sandoval without her knowledge or consent in or around February 2023.”
“The two videos Leviss has seen depict her in a state of undress and m–turbating. However, given Sandoval’s apparent practice of secretly recording their video calls, Leviss has every reason to assume there are additional illicit videos and/or photographs of her that she has not yet seen.”
She also alleges that Ariana Madix “distributed, disseminated, shared, and publicized the illicit videos intentionally” after discovering the videos on Sandoval’s phone. Raquel claims that Ariana “obtained at least two illicit videos of Leviss and distributed them and/or showed them to others without Leviss’ knowledge or consent.”
The suit notes that Ariana sent the two videos to Raquel along with a text message that read: “You are DEAD TO ME.” Ariana has denied that she ever had copies of the videos and insists she never disseminated the videos to anyone. Per the 38-year-old, she only saw “5 seconds” of one of the videos in question.
According to the complaint, the Bravoleb believes that Sandoval may have “additional illicit videos and/or photographs” of her in his possession.
The former SURver says she was filled with “shock” and “fear” over the videos being “in the hands of someone who hated her guts and was out for blood,” adding that she was “terrified Madix would leak them.”
In the court documents, Raquel alleges that she was “humiliated and villanized,” so much so that she was a ”shell of her former self” and was forced to check herself into a mental health facility for three months while Bravo, Evolution Media, and the cast of Vanderpump Rules “milked” Scandoval for all they could.
Raquel also claims that she was “misled by Bravo and Evolution into believing that she was contractually barred from speaking out about her mistreatment, which ultimately meant she suffered in silence as viewership exploded, and the rest of the cast enjoyed unseen levels of public recognition and professional opportunity.”
The lawsuit also recalls the news of the affair broke in the press on March 3. Days later, reports of the videos featuring Raquel pleasuring herself surfaced online.
She also alleges that Bravo omitted scenes from season 10 of Vanderpump Rules to protect Tom Sandoval’s portrayal and make Raquel look like the true villain.
Raquel says she confronted Sandoval on camera over the videos he took of her after the news of their affair broke on March 3. He reportedly “offered a reluctant admission and a sheepish apology.”
“Sandoval was clearly rattled,” the suit alleges. “After filming ended, an erratic and unsettled Sandoval refused to leave Leviss’ apartment in spite of her requests. Leviss was forced to have her sister and brother-in-law pick her up and drive her to their home. That day, Leviss retained an attorney to mitigate the risk of the illicit videos leaking.”
The suit says Tom Sandoval was reportedly concerned about his portrayal and was concerned about how “being accused of recording nonconsensual pornography would paint him in a negative light.”
As a result, Tom Sandoval “reportedly threatened to cease all further filming for the show unless he was granted editing rights over the scene. Shockingly, Bravo and Evolution obliged his demand. The scene was selectively edited to omit any mention of Sandoval’s illicit recording or Leviss’ lack of consent. This was part of a pattern and practice of Bravo and Evolution throwing Leviss under the bus in favor of Sandoval.”
Raquel’s lawsuit also blasts Bravo for their handling of Scandoval, claiming that they “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 former reality star is requesting a jury trial and is seeking compensatory damages as well as “special, general, and consequential damages.”
Vanderpump Rules airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.
