What happened with Rachel Leviss? Vanderpump Rules actress sues Tom Sandoval & Ariana Madix over the 'Scandoval' scandal

The American reality TV star, Rachel Leviss, has filed a lawsuit against her Vanderpump Rules co-stars, Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix. Rachel, who was previously known as Raquel, alleged that Tom had filmed a s*xual explicit video without consent while also accusing him of other things as well.

Rachel sued the two co-stars in LA County Superior Court on Thursday, February 29, 2024. The allegations include the filming of revenge p*rn against Leviss, eavesdropping, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, as per People.

The "Scandoval" as it was dubbed by media outlets in 2023 was the scandal when Sandoval was caught cheating with Leviss while he was in a long-term relationship with Madix. Sandoval and Leviss reportedly had been having an affair in 2022 and 2023, while still in a nine-year-long relationship with Madix.

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Rachel Leviss files lawsuit against her Vanderpump Rules co-stars, Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix

The American reality TV show, Vanderpump Rules, has been broadcast on Bravo. Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix made their relationship public on February 10, 2014, during the season 2 reunion of the show.

The months-long affair between Tom and Rachel Leviss was revealed in the 2023 episode 14, titled There's Something About Her. Sandoval and Madix had been dating for nine years at that time. As soon as news of "Scandoval" became public, it gained a lot of attention from fans across the country, and Leviss was criticized for the part she played in the news, as per People.

Madix and Tom broke up in March 2023 after the scandal became public, and five months later, Rachel Leviss said she would not return to reality television. The 29-year-old said she felt like she had been portrayed as "the ultimate reality TV villain", as per Rolling Stone.

She filed a lawsuit against the former couple on Thursday and the court documents read:

"To be clear, Leviss has repeatedly acknowledged that her actions were morally objectionable and hurtful to Madix. She has offered numerous apologies."

According to NBC News, the filings stated Rachel Leviss was seeking unspecified damages. She was also taking her former Bravo costars to court on allegations of eavesdropping, revenge p*rn, and invasion of privacy. The civil complaint added that during the scandal, the one thing that was lost was that "Leviss was a victim of predatory and dishonest behavior of an older man."

"Lost in the mix was that Leviss was a victim of the predatory and dishonest behavior of an older man, who recorded s*xually explicit videos of her without her knowledge or consent, which were then distributed, disseminated, and discussed publicly by a scorned woman seeking vengeance, catalyzing the scandal," the suit went on to say.

The affair was allegedly exposed when Madix and Sandoval were together for one of his band performances in Los Angeles on March 1, 2023, as per Forbes. The lawsuit said Madix found explicit videos of Rachel Leviss on her then-boyfriend's phone, as per People.

"Leviss has every reason to assume there are additional illicit videos and/or photographs of her that she has not yet seen. Leviss is informed and believes ... that Madix has obtained at least two illicit videos of Leviss and distributed them and/or showed them to others with Leviss' knowledge or consent," the documents went on to add.

That night, Ariana confronted Rachel through text that read "You are DEAD TO ME," along with two videos. Rachel Leviss was in New York City to appear on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, at the time and went to a bar after the filming, as per NBC.

The complaint stated that Leviss was informed and believed that Ariana got the videos from her ex-boyfriend's phone. It added that she "distributed and disseminated them to others."

"Madix obtained the videos of Leviss from Sandoval's mobile phone and distributed and disseminated them to others, including but not limited to Madix herself, Leviss, and other individuals whose identities are not currently known to Leviss," the document stated.

Rachel Leviss met Sandoval three days after his now-ex-girlfriend sent her the videos and alleged that the conversation led to Tom refusing to leave her house. As per People, she reportedly had to get help from her sister and brother-in-law who took her to their place.

Mark Geragos and Bryan Freedman, attorneys for Leviss, said the ordeal has taken a toll on her mental health. They noted that Rachel had apologized for "her part in an affair," stating that it wasn't a crime. They claimed that Tom and Ariana were allegedly "engaged in criminal acts."

“They then doubled down and used those actions to shame, bully, belittle, and intentionally try to destroy Rachel’s mental health. The law makes it clear that recording someone without their consent and distributing that illegal recording is punishable by law," the attorneys said.

There was no statement from Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix at the time of writing this article.