Credit: Ben Symons/PEACOCK, Instagram
Ariana Madix‘s request to have Rachel “Raquel” Leviss‘ revenge porn lawsuit against her dismissed on grounds of free speech has been denied.
Two years after Rachel, 31, sued Ariana, 41, and Tom Sandoval, 43, for revenge porn, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, a California Court of Appeal has ruled that the case will continue.
According to an August 5 report by TMZ, the court sided with a lower court judge who previously shut down Ariana’s appeal to toss out the suit on Wednesday.
Although Ariana suggested that because the Vanderpump Rules scandal, dubbed “Scandoval,” was such a huge story, she should be protected on grounds of free speech. However, according to the court, the public nature of the story does not mean that Rachel’s private videos should also be made public.
As Pump Rules fans will recall, Ariana and Sandoval broke up in March 2023 after Ariana discovered sexual videos of Rachel masturbating on Sandoval’s phone following a months-long affair, and Ariana was later accused of copying and distributing the clips to others.
While Ariana’s appeal has been denied, the ruling did not indicate that Rachel’s claims against Ariana were true, or confirm that Ariana did, in fact, send the videos of Rachel to third parties. It simply meant that Ariana could not have the lawsuit against her dismissed on free speech grounds.
When Rachel filed the lawsuit in 2024, her documents explained, via Deadline, “‘Scandoval’ captured the public’s attention in a massive way, went completely viral, and injected new life into Vanderpump Rules. It also caused mayhem in [Raquel’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, [Raquel] was subjected to a public skewering with little precedent and became, without exaggeration, one of the most hated women in America.”
Months later, as revealed by In Touch Weekly, Ariana clapped back, stating that the “primary allegation of [Rachel’s] complaint [was] false” and denying that she was responsible for Rachel’s mental health struggles.
“On the contrary, the Complaint is very clear that [Raquel’s] mental health crisis preceded any alleged distribution of the videos, was caused by Bravo, or was caused by the public’s backlash against [Raquel] for betraying [Ariana],” her lawyer declared.