Rachel Leviss filed a lawsuit Thursday against fellow Vanderpump Rules cast mates Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix, claiming revenge porn, eavesdropping, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
“‘Scandoval’ captured the public’s attention in a massive way, went completely viral, and injected new life into Vanderpump Rules,” the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, says. “It also caused mayhem in Leviss’s life, culminating in months-long in-patient treatment at a mental health facility and her departure from the show. Fomented by Bravo and Evolution in conjunction with the cast, Leviss was subjected to a public skewering with little precedent and became, without exaggeration, one of the most hated women in America.”
About a year ago, Leviss made headlines when it was revealed that she was having a months-long affair with Sandoval. The affair shocked viewers of the reality TV show because Sandoval had been dating Madix for nearly a decade and Madix and Leviss appeared to be good friends. The lawsuit claims that Madix was aware of the affair long before it became public, and in December 2022, Madix told Leviss and Sandoval to not be so handsy and to save the storyline for Season 11.
The lawsuit says that Leviss has acknowledged that her affair with Sandoval was hurtful to Madix but that Leviss was a “victim of the predatory and dishonest behavior of an older man, who recorded sexually explicit videos of her without her knowledge or consent, which where then distributed, disseminated, and discussed publicly by a scorned woman seeking vengeance, catalyzing the scandal.”
“Leviss ultimately checked herself into a mental health facility and remained there for three months while Bravo, Evolution, and the cast milked the interest her excoriation had peaked,” according to the lawsuit.
During Season 10 of Vanderpump Rules, Madix said that she found a screen recording of Leviss on Sandoval’s phone, which led her to find out about the affair between Leviss and Sandoval. On an August episode of Bethenny Frankel’s “Just B” podcast, Leviss said that Sandoval recorded a NSFW video without her permission or knowledge.
“So you’re FaceTiming Tom, you’re in New York and Tom is in L.A. and you’re masturbating, and he’s recording you, and you don’t know you’re being recorded?” TV personality Frankel asked, according to Page Six.
“Correct,” Leviss replied.
Leviss said that when Madix went through Sandoval’s phone, she found the video and sent it to Leviss with a text, saying “you’re dead to me.” Leviss said she wouldn’t be surprised if Madix sent it to other people because others have told Leviss that they’ve seen the video.
Leviss claims in the lawsuit that she confronted Sandoval on camera about him recording her without her permission but that the scene was cut because Sandoval threatened Bravo, saying he would stop filming if they included the scene in the episode. Bravo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Season 11 premiere of Bravo’s Vanderpump Rules has seen a 68% increase in viewership since the Season 10 premiere, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Representatives of Sandoval and Madix did not immediately return a request for comment. Leviss’s representative said she did not have a comment. Bryan Freedman, Leviss’s attorney, said in a statement to HuffPost that he is “outraged” that Bravo sacrifices people’s emotional health for ratings.
“While coming forward can be terrifying and even embarrassing, I implore people not to suffer in silence,” the statement says in part.
Mark Geragos, Leviss’s other attorney, said in a statement to HuffPost that Sandoval and Madix have tried to “shame, bully, belittle” and destroy Leviss’s mental health.
“The law makes it clear that recording someone without their consent and distributing that illegal recording is punishable by law; however, doing so while knowingly enticing them to engage in sexual acts deserves the harshest of penalties allowable under the law,” the statement says.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.