Vanderpump Rules might be on pause for the time being, but there is no shortage of news surrounding the current and former cast. Of course, Rachel Leviss is currently going through a lawsuit with Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix over alleged revenge porn.
Recently, the former reality star and current podcast host penned an emotional letter to the courts about the situation and what led to her affair with her friend’s longtime significant other.
The revenge porn lawsuit is over a sexual FaceTime call Rachel had with Tom that he reportedly recorded without her permission. Ariana later found the footage and stands accused of sending it to their friends, which constitutes revenge porn. Now, the case between the three is moving forward, although Ariana denies sending the footage to anyone.
Radar Online was able to obtain the letter. In it, Rachel discusses her relationship with James Kennedy and the isolation she felt that led to her having an affair with Tom.
According to Rachel, “After breaking off my engagement to Kennedy, I became increasingly isolated.” She then shares that she started to “confide” in Tom and that they “became increasingly close.” However, not only did she depend on Tom, but “he, in turn, began to confide in me about the dire state of his relationship with Madix, describing it as a business partnership and casting its end as foregone.”
Rachel goes on to say she viewed her co-star as a friend in the beginning.
“I viewed Sandoval as a close confidante and friend and our relationship as platonic. It became increasingly clear, however, that Sandoval had different intentions. By the Summer of 2022, Sandoval had worn down my defenses. “
The letter goes on to say that they “started sleeping together in August and continued doing so through the early months of 2023.”
The letter then discusses the FaceTime calls and says the sexually explicit calls were normal for them. She says the FaceTime calls were “private communications reflecting a clandestine affair.”
She goes on, “Sandoval never asked my permission to record them, and I was not aware he was doing so. Had he asked, I would have said no. If I had known he had done so anyway, I would have been furious and demanded he delete them.”
Rachel also feels that Tom possibly has other recordings of her that she did not consent to. She says, “Under no circumstances would I have consented to being recorded. Given Sandoval’s apparent practice of secretly recording me, I have every reason to believe that he captured additional compromising videos and/or images of me.”
She then says that Ariana discovered the FaceTime videos on March 1, 2023, and then sent her three messages. According to Rachel, the first two were videos, and the last message simply said, “You are DEAD TO ME.”
Though not surprised by Ariana being upset, Rachel says, “I reacted to Madix’s messages with shock and alarm.” She says Ariana having access to the videos “made an already difficult situation decidedly worse.”
The letter continues, “It is not just that Madix had discovered the recordings and confronted me about their contents. If that were all that happened, Madix would not have been named in this lawsuit.”
She says she has “every reason to believe” Ariana showed or sent the videos to other people for revenge. She continues by saying, “What I do know is that I was utterly terrified of Madix’s intentions, and her actions (as acknowledged by her) caused me extreme emotional distress.”