Lisa Vanderpump‘s husband is facing a major legal battle from the landlords of the now-shuttered Pump!
Ken Todd has been hit with a massive lawsuit that is demanding nearly $1 million in damages amid allegations of unpaid rent, liquor license troubles, and “stolen light fixtures” at the restaurant! Oof!
Of course, back in May, Pump closed up shop after ten years in business at their West Hollywood location. At the time, the Bravo vet and Vanderpump Rules namesake told the public Pump’s lease was expiring — and the new rent offer from landlords was “untenable” for them to continue business. So Pump shuttered. And that was that. Until now!
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Now, the building’s owners are looking to flip the script on Ken — and give him the villain edit!
According to a Thursday evening report from Page Six, a company called 8948 Santa Monica Partners filed suit against Ken this week. The suit seeks $950,000 in alleged damages from the embattled restaurateur, including $250,000 in unpaid rent, $150,000 to hand over the ex-establishment’s liquor license, and $50,000 for stolen antique chandeliers! Yes, really!
This week’s suit claims Todd — who is the restaurant’s guarantor — “failed and refused and continues to fail and refuse to keep and perform” the conditions set out by the lease. And they want cash from the VPR matriarch’s hubby for allegedly reneging on the terms of the business agreement.
In a statement to Page Six on Thursday, the building owners said of Todd and Pump:
“We are aggressively pursuing damages and he will be held fully liable.”
The liquor license claim is seriously heated. The landlords assert Todd was supposed to hand over the license to the next tenant in that building, but he refused to do so after vacating the West Hollywood hotspot.
There is a new eatery in that location now, but the 77-year-old allegedly kept the liquor license and “stalled the opening” of the new establishment, per the suit. In turn, the landlords claim that move cost them “approximately $56,500 of base rent and other charges for each month” that the restaurant was without a liquor allowance. Calling Todd’s actions were “willful, malicious, and made in bad faith,” the landlords say — and now they want big dough for it.
Also!!! The landlords claim Todd and his team ripped out a bunch of expensive chandeliers and kept them for themselves when Pump closed its doors. Those chandeliers, the 8948 Santa Monica Partners team asserts, belong to the building and its owners — and not Todd and his crew. Yeesh!
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But Todd isn’t going down without a fight! Lisa’s husband claims it was Pump’s team who turned the whole place around back in 2013! He said on Thursday:
“When we took over the place known as Pump 10 years ago, it was an empty car park.”
According to Todd, his workers even went so far as to plant “beautiful olive trees,” which “belong to us.” He did not rip out the trees, for what it’s worth. And he claims he didn’t “rip out” the chandeliers, either!
Todd asserted:
“We did not take the trees; they are still there. We [also] did not rip the chandeliers out like the landlord is claiming. We lovingly took the antiques out, which are now in our possession as they are also ours. … You don’t normally find antique chandeliers hanging in a car park.”
Well, he’s not wrong about that last part…
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As for the liquor license, Todd told the outlet he’s not going to give that up without a fight, either. Or at least he’s not going to give it up without compensation:
“The liquor license we have traded under for the last 10 years also belongs to us. … We are happy to sell it to them at the fair market value.”
Todd also offered up one more bone to pick in response to the landlord’s lawsuit: COVID.
During the pandemic, property owners allegedly had no sympathy for the biz amid shutdowns, according to Lisa’s husband:
“They showed no forgiveness during the entire term of COVID, which is highly unusual.”
And he concluded:
“The landlord needs to return our rent deposit, as the property is in much better shape now than when we found it. This aggressive behavior by the landlord will not be tolerated.”
With that final quote, it sure sounds like both sides are entrenched and ready to duke this one out…
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[Image via MEGA/WENN]
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