Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo
Tom Schwartz has broken his silence in regard to Tom Sandoval‘s alleged affair with Raquel Leviss.
As his and Sandoval’s Los Angeles restaurants, TomTom and Schwartz & Sandy’s, faced backlash, Schwartz surfaced at an airport in Los Angeles on Saturday, where he admitted his business partner may be feeling like a “piece of sh-t,” shared his hopes for Sandoval’s now-ex-girlfriend, Ariana Madix, and revealed when he last spoke to Raquel.
“He’s okay I think, relatively speaking,” Schwartz told TMZ of Sandoval on March 11. “I mean, he has a sense of profound sadness, rightfully so. I think he feels like a piece of sh-t and to some extend, maybe he is, but he knows he f-cked up. The whole thing is just really sad.”
Although Schwartz wasn’t in the loop with where Ariana is at the moment, he said she has a “really good support system” and is surrounded by friends. In fact, when asked about the increased ratings Pump Rules has seen post-Scandoval, Schwartz said they were the “last thing” on his mind.
“That’s the last thing I’m thinking about, is ratings, I’m just worried about Ariana but I know she has a really good support system, a lot of friends and family that love her,” he shared.
“I hope she’s living the good life, just indulging. I hope she goes on a living spree,” Schwartz continued, adding that he hopes the entire scandal will “blow over.”
“It’s just really unfortunate,” he explained.
As for his recent interaction with Raquel, who reportedly left her Los Angeles home after the scandal broke earlier this month, Schwartz said they haven’t been in touch.
“I haven’t seen her or talked to her since this whole thing started,” he confirmed.
Schwartz then said he preferred “not to talk about” whether he knew about Sandoval and Raquel’s alleged affair in advance, as Kristen Doute recently claimed, and denied staging his fling with Raquel as a distraction.
“That’s not true. No. Unless I was just a pawn in the game. No, it’s not true,” he confirmed.
Also during the interview, Schwartz was asked for his thoughts on Scheana Shay‘s supposed assault against Raquel, which Scheana vehemently denies.
“I haven’t talked to Scheana but really I’m just sad about the negative impact it’s having on our business,” he replied.
As noted in an additional report from TMZ, Schwartz and Sandoval’s businesses were hit with such intensely negative reviews on TomTom and Schwartz & Sandy’s Yelp pages that Yelp was forced to pause reviews as their staff investigated whether or not the reviews were based on actual customer experiences.
In posts shared to the restaurant’s pages, Sandoval was slammed as a “cheater” and home-wrecker, and his band, Tom Sandoval and the Most Extras, was likened to “Freddy Krueger scratching on a chalkboard” as one alleged patron shared a photo of a Raquel-inspired cockroach they “found” at one of the restaurants.
Other reviewers said they’ll be taking their business to Ariana and Katie Maloney‘s new sandwich shop, Something About Her, which is expected to open later this year.
As Pump Rules fans will recall, Sandoval’s initial apology, which featured no mention of Ariana, requested his critics be sensitive to the fact that TomTom and Schwartz & Sandy’s weren’t just his.
“I fully understand and deserve ur anger & disappointment towards me, but please leave Schwartz, my friends, and family out of this situation … Schwartz specifically only found out about this very recently and most definitely did not condone my actions. This was a very personal thing,” he wrote on March 4. “Also, Schwartz & Sandy’s might have my name on it, but also there are 3 other partners and 20 employees, who especially rely on the restaurant for income for them and their families. Just like TomTom, I’m a small part of a much bigger thing. Please direct ur anger towards me and not them. They did nothing wrong.”
Vanderpump Rules season 10 airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.