Heavy/Getty/Peacock Lisa Vanderpump.
Raquel Leviss issued a response to Lisa Vanderpump’s recent comments about her.
Speaking on her “Rachel Goes Rogue” podcast on March 11, 2024, the former “Vanderpump Rules” star called out her former boss for comments she made about her not returning to the Bravo reality show and the subsequent lawsuit she filed. Leviss also accused the SUR owner of making inaccurate statements to spawn clickbait articles about her.
In March 2023, Leviss made headlines for her shocking cheating scandal with Tom Sandoval. One year later, she filed a lawsuit against her former lover and his ex, Ariana Madix. In court documents filed on February 29, Leviss accused the former couple of subjecting her to invasion of privacy, revenge porn, infliction of emotional distress and more, according to People magazine.
One year later, Leviss spoke out on her “Rachel Goes Rogue” podcast episode, “actuaLISAtion.” She noted that Vanderpump “had a lot to say” about her decision not to return to “Vanderpump Rules” following Scandoval.
Raquel Leviss Accused Lisa Vanderpump of Spinning Her Story
Charles Sykes/BravoRaquel Leviss and Lisa Vanderpump.
Leviss addressed an interview in which Vanderpump said she said she should have returned to “Vanderpump Rules” to share her side of the scandal. The former SUR waitress alleged that when she talked to Vanderpump on the phone last summer, her ex-boss was only “attentive” to what her feelings were regarding Sandoval. “I think a lot of what she’s saying in the press is strategic to spin a narrative or to create clickbait for different articles, so that’s why I’m bringing it to light,” Leviss claimed.
“I’ll quote her,” Leviss said of Vanderpump. “She says ‘I don’t know exactly what she’s going to move on from, I mean she slept with her best friend’s boyfriend.’ It just seems like a double standard. Lisa is really advocating for Tom and supporting him in a certain type of way…Yet I’m being completely dismissed, my issues and experience that I went through completely minimized. And I actually went to a mental health facility to get help.”
“It’s very ironic that Lisa says I don’t know exactly what she’s going to move on from, yet this whole season 11 season focused on the cast moving on from scandal and how it’s affected them. It’s just very ironic,” Leviss added.
The former bar star also weighed in on Vanderpump suggesting she should go back to being a “beauty queen.” “Obviously, I’m not competing in pageants especially after being involved in a huge scandal like this,” Leviss replied. “I kind of have to laugh at it because I’m 29 years old. Like, I have my whole life in front of me and I can shift and change careers, I can do whatever I want right now.”
“I don’t need ‘Vanderpump Rules’ for the rest of my life like some of these other cast members. I feel like they can really can’t really fathom a life outside of ‘Vanderpump Rules,'” she added.
Leviss noted that she earned an undergraduate degree in kinesiology and has a strong interest in psychology.
Raquel Leviss Took Issue With Vanderpump’s Comments About Her Lawsuit
BravoLisa Vanderpump.
Leviss took issue with a comment Vanderpump made about the “revenge porn” allegation in her lawsuit. Leviss alleged that Sandoval recorded her during an intimate moment on Facetime and Madix found the video and forwarded it.
“Lisa did comment on my lawsuit…she said, ‘That’s ridiculous, I think if you don’t want somebody to share your porn then don’t send it to your best friend’s boyfriend,’” Leviss told her listeners. “Immediately I was like, ‘Oh she didn’t read the brief.’ But then, you know, insiders told me, ‘Oh no she knows exactly what she’s doing. She’s saying the same to the press for the press to pick up this certain story.’”
Leviss clarified, “The lawsuit is not about me sending a video. The video was a recorded FaceTime video that I did not know was being recorded. And I was unaware that this video existed until it was sent to me. So that is what the lawsuit is about and I would think Lisa knows that now.”
Leviss expressed disappointment in how Vanderpump “turned” on her after she decided not to return to “Vanderpump Rules” after five seasons of the show.
“I know she has a lot of power and I want to be firm and standing up for myself,” Leviss explained. “I’m pointing out that it’s not OK to be talking about and spreading certain propaganda and straight-up lies in a way to change the public procession of somebody.” Leviss called the situation “messed up” and accused Vanderpump of “victim shaming,”
“It’s very, very icky,” Leviss said. “It doesn’t feel right.”
“It took a long time to really decide if I’m going to press charges or not,” Leviss added, “My privacy was violated in a very intimate, unsuspecting way, and it is embarrassing and not something that I’m proud of at all. So to have her push out a certain type of story that isn’t anywhere near the truth of what has happened is very disappointing.”
Here’s What Lisa Vanderpump Actually Said…
GettyLisa Vanderpump.
The interviews that Leviss referenced came from E! News and TMZ. In early March 2024, Vanderpump told E! News that Leviss is “justified in speaking out if she wants,” but added that she doesn’t think a podcast is the way to move on from the scandal. “I think it would have been a much better platform to have come on ‘Vanderpump Rules’ and done it,” Vanderpump told the outlet.
Elsewhere she said of Leviss, “I don’t know exactly what she’s going to move on from. I mean, she slept with her best friend’s boyfriend.”
“She was a beauty queen before, maybe she should go back to doing that,” LVP later said.
Vanderpump also spoke to TMZ to give her thoughts on Leviss’ lawsuit. “It’s ridiculous,” the restaurant owner said in the video interview. “I think if you don’t want to have somebody share your porn then don’t send it to your best friend’s boyfriend, right?”
Vanderpump appeared surprised when told Leviss didn’t record or forward the Facetime video. “It’s all inappropriate,” she concluded.
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