After her life exploded on Vanderpump Rules, it’s not every day that Rachel Leviss can celebrate a win. Surprisingly, today is one of those days. She sued Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval for engaging in revenge porn, and a judge just allowed the case to move forward.
This all stems back to that fateful day when Ariana stumbled across X-rated messages on Tom’s phone. As the legend goes, America’s favorite scorned woman took a recording of what she saw on Tom’s phone and sent it to Rachel. That quick moment opened a can of worms that’s going to haunt the VPR stars for years.
The case moves forward
As we previously shared, Ariana’s legal team strongly condemned Rachel’s lawsuit. They called it an “abuse of the legal process,” and argued that Ariana did nothing wrong. They said the only person she sent the recording to was Rachel. Exonerating Ariana even further, they claimed that Tom quickly snatched Ariana’s phone and deleted everything.
Ariana and her lawyers filed an anti-SLAPP motion to get Rachel’s case dismissed. However, a judge just disagreed with that concept. Deadline reported all of the details of the 19-page ruling that came from LA Superior Court Judge Daniel Crowley, and it seems like Ariana could be facing an uphill battle.
“Plaintiff has conclusively demonstrated Madix’s conduct alleged in the three causes of action was illegal,” the judge said.
“Madix’s conduct is not protected under the anti-SLAPP statute because the alleged conduct was illegal as a matter of law,” he explained.
With the judge’s order, the case is greenlit to proceed to trial. Unfortunately, that’s not going to be any time soon. The court date is currently set for November 3, 2025. Mark your calendars.
TELL US – ARE YOU SURPRISED TO HEAR THAT RACHEL’S LAWSUIT IS MOVING FORWARD? DO YOU THINK ARIANA REGRETS TAKING THE RECORDINGS FROM TOM’S PHONE?
