Just when we thought the Something About Her drama was coming to an end, here comes Chef Penny Davidi ready to shake things up.
On Vanderpump Rules, we saw Katie Maloney and Ariana Madix join forces with Chef Penny to launch their sandwich shop. As the grand opening draws near, Chef Penny has jumped back into the conversation. She is adamant that she deserves a piece of the pie.
Chef Penny wants her cut
As a reminder, Ariana and Katie originally brought in Chef Penny to help curate menus, oversee staffing, and do all of the other restauranty things. In VPR Season 11 Episode 14, Katie and Ariana shared that there was a falling out over money. Chef Penny wanted to be a partner with Katie and Ariana, but instead, they offered her a salary plus 10% of profits on the SAH location. Chef Penny didn’t agree to those terms.
After that episode aired, Chef Penny spoke to The Sun about her role in the restaurant. According to her, Bravo mostly edited her out of Season 11 of VPR because of her falling out with Katie and Ariana. However, she claimed to have email correspondence proving her ownership of the business.
“Once they agree on the email that they agree to my terms and that I should proceed with the work, the intent by California law, I’m a partner. I own 10% of that business,” Penny explained.
While Ariana and Katie wanted Penny to receive 10% of profits from that particular SAH location, Chef Penny argued that she was entitled to 10% of the overall brand. She argued that she spent countless hours working on the restaurant, from dealing with the city inspections to filing the trademark for SAH. Then, she referenced an unaired conversation where Ariana agreed to give Penny 10% of the brand.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m happy to jump in. I would love to be a part of this with you guys and really help you grow,'” Penny recalled.
Penny continued, “And then Ariana was like, ‘We would love to be able to pay you. I’m sure you’re worth a lot, but we just can’t afford what it’s going to cost right now, and maybe we can work out to give you a percentage of the business,’ not a percentage of the profits of this little restaurant.”
Looking back on that moment with Ariana, Penny said they hugged and agreed to those terms. It was all filmed, but never made it to the show. However, another wrinkle to this saga is that no one ever signed a contract. According to Chef Penny, that was just one of many examples of Katie and Ariana’s unprofessionalism.
No contract and no respect
When airing her grievances to the outlet, Penny said that she never signed a contract with the VPR stars for two reasons. First, she claimed it took “months to get the first draft” from Katie and Ariana’s lawyer. Once the draft finally came back, it wasn’t what they originally agreed upon.
Chef Penny said that despite all of the work she put into the business, Katie and Ariana essentially ghosted her. She said she never agreed to walk away from the business. Therefore, she still has a stake in it.
“They just stopped talking to me. Meanwhile, I was still doing all the work. They don’t even have the audacity to sit down with me,” Chef Penny said.
She continued, “I’m not some f-cking garbage you picked up off the side of the street. I have a reputation in this industry, and that pissed me off more than anything.”
With all of that in mind, it shouldn’t be too surprising to learn that Penny isn’t going to the Something About Her grand opening events. She doesn’t even feel confident that the ladies will be able to keep the business afloat. Penny believes she was the glue that would have held the operation together.
Penny explained, “They will hopefully succeed but it will be difficult given that they are really unable to be on top of it with all they have going on. I know that it would’ve been a huge success and grown had I stayed on board.”
Vanderpump Rules airs Tuesday nights on Bravo at 8/7c.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK CHEF PENNY SHOULD BE ENTITLED TO 10% OF THE SOMETHING ABOUT HER BRAND? WOULD YOU HAVE WANTED TO SEE MORE OF THE SITUATION WITH CHEF PENNY PLAY OUT ON VPR?
