It’s Ariana Madix‘s turn to speak out.
Rachel Leviss is going after both her and Tom Sandoval in a jaw-dropping revenge porn lawsuit regarding images allegedly spared of the two cheating partners getting it on virtually that kicked off Scandoval more than a year ago. But Ariana didn’t spread it around to anyone, she says in a newly-filed response to Leviss’ lawsuit, so BACK OFF!
Related: Tom Sandoval ‘Shell Shocked’ By Rachel Leviss Saying She Never Loved Him!
In newly-filed legal documents first obtained by People, the 38-year-old asserts that she learned of the Tom Sandoval and the Most Extras frontman’s affair in the “worst possible way” by finding a video on his phone of him and Leviss “having phone sex.” And the Dancing With The Stars alum admits to being understandably “devastated and immediately confused” by it. But she did NOT turn around and send that video with friends for emotional support, to plan a counter strategy, or to shame Leviss — at least according to this legal filing!
Madix’s attorneys state straight up that she “did not share or show any of the video footage she found” with anyone — except to confront Rachel herself. The lawyers stated:
“In fact, Ms. Madix could not have shared such footage because Mr. Sandoval deleted it from her phone within minutes of Ms. Madix confronting him — a fact Ms. Madix stated in writing 33 minutes after sending the videos to [Leviss].”
Ariana’s attorneys go on to slam Rachel for what they contend is an abusive tactic to go after Madix. They called out Rachel’s revenge porn lawsuit as “an abuse of the legal process,” and added:
“[Leviss wants to] punish her and blame Ms. Madix for the negative reaction [Leviss] received as a result of her affair with Mr. Sandoval. … [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.”
Damn!!
Oh, and Team Rachel has already responded! In a statement to People following the court filing, Leviss’ lawyers Mark Geragos and Bryan Freedman ridiculed Ariana’s position in VERY harsh terms. They noted:
“The only thing more laughable than Ariana’s motion is her fairytale account of how she discovered the relationship from Tom’s phone. Meanwhile, we look forward to cross examining her on her declaration, as we have irrefutable evidence that the videos were distributed. Lastly, the forensic ‘expert’ states that the video is not ‘NOW’ on her phone, well after the events in question and with months of notice that her actions had put her in legal jeopardy.”
Still, Ariana’s team appears keen to fight hard on this one. For one, their filing details what they say happened on the night of March 1, 2023 — when the Vanderpump Rules star found the infamous FaceTime video on Tom’s phone after it had fallen out of his pocket during a performance at a club in West Hollywood.
They claim that aside from Ariana sending screenshots of the video to Rachel herself to confront her about it with a text message reading “you’re dead to me,” Tom actually swiped Ariana’s phone, ran down San Vicente Boulevard in West Hollywood, and managed to delete all the evidence before she could do anything with it even if she had wanted to! Ariana then sent text messages to friends right after all that happened which prove that the videos were deleted — because she said so in the texts explaining how she found out about the affair and what Tom did to curtail it!
Regarding Leviss specifically, Madix’s legal team also stated that she appeared to revel in the publicity from the scandal at first:
“Much of the public discussion about [Leviss] was negative, [but] she was thrilled to be in the public eye. … [Leviss] made numerous public statements about her affair with Mr. Sandoval in which she admitted that Ms. Madix did not know about it, apologized for hurting Ms. Madix, and admitted that Plaintiff had personal issues she needed to work on. At no time did [Leviss] claim that Ms. Madix had caused her any harm.”
Ariana’s attorneys further allege that Rachel sought to “capitalize on her newfound fame” with podcast promos, magazine shoots, and a New York Fashion Week appearance. Thus, they say Leviss’ claims of Madix eavesdropping and spreading revenge porn are both incorrect and baseless. Basically, this one is getting NASTY, y’all! Even nastier than it already was! Reactions??
[Image via MEGA/WENN]