After Rachel Leviss filed a lawsuit accusing Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval of distributing revenge porn, the Vanderpump Rules stars’ lawyers have been working overtime to get this thrown out. Tom’s lawyers claimed that Rachel was trying to “rebrand herself as a victim.” Now, Ariana’s legal team wants the case dismissed.
According to legal documents obtained by Entertainment Tonight, Ariana filed an “anti-SLAPP” motion to have the case dismissed. Rachel’s accusations include creating revenge porn, eavesdropping, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy. Ariana’s lawyers want all of it thrown out.
Slapping down the lawsuit
First, let’s talk about what a SLAPP suit is. SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. These are lawsuits with no legal basis. Instead, the goal is to silence and intimate critics. Essentially, these types of lawsuits are filed to prevent negative publicity from mounting. The other party gets sent into debt trying to defend themselves in court. Ariana’s lawyers believe Rachel’s lawsuit falls into this category.
In the court filing, they explained, “[Leviss] does not seek to vindicate any cognizable rights but to punish Ms. Madix, and deter others, from exercising their constitutionally protected right of free speech.”
According to Ariana’s lawyers, she never distributed revenge porn of Rachel. Instead, they argued that she took a video on her phone of an intimate video on Tom’s phone and then sent it to Rachel. Allegedly, Tom deleted the video from Ariana’s device shortly after, so it wouldn’t have been possible for Ariana to share it with anyone else.
With that in mind, Ariana’s lawyers said it’s wrong to punish her. They’re calling this whole lawsuit an “abuse of the legal process.” They also want Rachel to pay for her legal fees, per an anti-SLAPP statute in California.
The court hasn’t decided on Ariana’s motion to dismiss the suit. Her next court hearing is on July 11. For everyone involved in this mess, it’s going to be a long summer.
Vanderpump Rules airs new episodes on Tuesday nights at 8/7c on Bravo.
TELL US – SHOULD THE COURTS HOLD ARIANA ACCOUNTABLE IN THE REVENGE PORN ACCUSATIONS? DO YOU BELIEVE ARIANA HAS A STRONG ARGUMENT FOR DISMISSING THE CASE?
