The legal side of Scandoval. Scheana Shay’s alleged reaction to Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss’ affair briefly landed her in legal trouble.
Us Weekly confirmed on March 3 that Sandoval and Leviss had a secret relationship behind Ariana Madix’s back. (Sandoval and Madix, who started dating in 2014 and bought a home together in 2019, split over the infidelity.) Reports subsequently surfaced that Shay got physical with Leviss when she learned about the scandal after the Vanderpump Rules costars taped Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen on March 1. Leviss subsequently filed an order of protection against Shay and detailed the alleged incident.
“[Scheana] pushed me against [a] brick wall causing injury to back of [my] head and punched me in the face causing injury to my left eye,” the former beauty queen alleged in the court filing, claiming she has a cut above her left eye and “blurred vision.”
She also included pics of the alleged injuries and detailed why she is taking legal action: “Currently mutual friends and coworkers are telling me she doesn’t regret the physical attack on me and would do it again if she found that further emotional distress was caused to our mutual friend.”
Shay subtly addressed the situation for the first time by “liking” a tweet that read: “If what they are saying @scheana did after WWHL is true she is the ULTIMATE RIDE OR DIE friend. Everyone needs a friend like Scheana. #pumprules #teamariana.”
The restraining order against Shay isn’t the only action Leviss has taken. She also sent a letter to her costars about the alleged video of her and Sandoval that Madix discovered on March 1.
In the legal notice, Leviss’ team claimed the footage was recorded “illegally” and “without the permission” of Leviss, warning the group to delete the video as “forwarding the recording to another person, even if only to one other person” is a violation of California law. The paperwork reportedly addresses Madix directly, noting Leviss’ lawyers ”appreciate the distress that this may have caused you” but sharing the clip could result in “criminal and civil penalties.”
“We hereby demand that you delete the recording from your phone and from the cloud and from any other manner or method in which the recording may exist,” the letter reads, per Entertainment Tonight. “Additionally, we demand that you advise this office immediately in writing of all people to whom you have forwarded this recording or who you may have allowed to view this recording.”
Kristen Doute later revealed the nature of the video, which was taken by Sandoval.
“I was actually with Ariana and Tom [on March 1]. We were watching the band play at TomTom and he’s done playing and we all had gotten up to just kind of chatter and grab a drink. Then all of a sudden, I realize Ariana is gone for — it had to be 20 minutes. She left her coat and her purse on the chair,” the former Bravo personality said on her “Sex, Love and What Else Matters” podcast on March 8. “During Tom’s performance, his phone fell out of his pocket or something and somebody — a mutual friend — picks up the phone, hands it to Ariana. … Ariana had his phone and she told me that she just had this gut intuition to look at it. They are, like, a trusting couple … She just found, like, she had to look. So she went into his photos. He had screen recorded a FaceTime of him and Raquel masturbating with each other. That’s the truth.”
Both Leviss and Sandoval have apologized to Madix in separate statements. Leviss addressed the nature of their relationship on March 9 after the affair was exposed.
“Besides the indefensible circumstances surrounding our relationship, my feelings for Tom have always been sincere and born out of a loving friendship. Knowing how many people we hurt, I need to understand my choices and learn to make better ones. I need to take care of my health, work on self growth and take time to be OK with being alone,” she wrote. “I care for Tom and I don’t want to label anything or predict what lies ahead. Right now I need to heal.”
After the season 10 reunion taped on March 23, Leviss released a statement revealing that she intended to drop the restraining order. “I can confirm that my attorney took my case off the court calendar Wednesday and is filing the appropriate paperwork requested by the court today to dismiss the TRO from moving forward after the 29th,” Leviss said in a statement on March 24. “We let the court know I will not be moving forward with a permanent restraining order.”
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