Rachel Leviss attended the Stagecoach festival in the same top Ariana Madix wore on Vanderpump Rules during their love triangle.
Ariana dumped her boyfriend of nine years Tom Sandoval last March after she discovered he had conducted an affair with Rachel, then known as Raquel.
As ‘Scandoval’ exploded, Rachel was subjected to a deluge of backlash so fierce that she quit Vanderpump Rules and retreated to a mental health facility for two months.
She returned to the public eye that summer, and this February she sued Tom and Ariana for ‘revenge porn, eavesdropping and invasion of privacy.’
Now, this Friday, Rachel was seen in the Coachella Valley for the Stagecoach country music festival, where her ex DJ James Kennedy was performing.
She was wearing a cowgirl chic burnt-orange crop top that Ariana previously wore on season 10 episode 14 of Vanderpump Rules – during Rachel and Tom’s affair.
Rachel Leviss (left) attended the Stagecoach festival in the same top Ariana Madix (right) wore on Vanderpump Rules during their love triangle
Ariana is pictured on Vanderpump Rules wearing the blouse in question, which featured a trendily serrated hemline that curved upwards to flash her taut midriff
Rachel posted multiple Insta Stories this Friday of herself wearing the top while spending time with her friends near the country music festival.
Her updates included a lengthy selfie video that allowed her more than half a million followers to get a close look at the garment.
Social media commentators were quick to notice that the blouse was identical to one Ariana wore on the 14th episode of season 10 of Vanderpump Rules.
At that point, Ariana had yet to discover that Tom was cheating on her with Rachel, who had been a personal friend of hers as well as a co-star.
When the ‘Scandoval’ story became a national controversy, Ariana received an outpouring of public support and Rachel withdrew from the public eye as a pariah.
However she resurfaced in August to give a wide-ranging tell-all interview about the scandal on Bethenny Frankel’s podcast.
‘I feel like I’ve been portrayed as the ultimate villain,’ Rachel told Bethenny on Just B. ‘My mistakes that I’ve made on camera live on forever.’
During that interview, she claimed that Tom had recorded an intimate FaceTime conversation with her without informing her first.
At that point, Ariana had yet to discover that Tom was cheating on her with Rachel, who had been a close personal friend of hers; Ariana, Tom and Rachel are pictured in November 2022
When the ‘Scandoval’ story became a national controversy, Ariana received an outpouring of public support and Rachel withdrew from the public eye as a pariah
Rachel posted multiple Insta Stories this Friday of herself wearing the top while spending time with her friends near the country music festival
She filed suit against him and Ariana in February, accusing Tom of ‘secretly recording their private communications,’ as well as ‘capturing sexually explicit footage’ of her ‘without her knowledge or consent.’
Rachel alleged further that Ariana ‘distributed, disseminated, shared, and publicized the illicit videos intentionally’ after she discovered them on Tom’s phone.
Her complaint, obtained by DailyMail.com, contended: ‘”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 Leviss’s life, culminating in months-long in-patient treatment at a mental health facility and her departure from the show.’
The complaint alleged: ‘Fomented by Bravo and Evolution in conjunction with the cast, Leviss was subjected to a public skewering with little precedent and became, without exaggeration, one of the most hated women in America.’
Shortly thereafter, a Bravo insider said Tom was ‘so crushed’ by the lawsuit and that ‘None of them ever realized that this would take the toll on Rachel that it did.’
Speaking to DailyMail.com, the source added: ‘Tom honestly thought that he and Rachel would ride off into the sunset together. He was obsessed with her. He loved her so much and was so sure that she was the one he would spend forever with. For her to turn around and sue him is so absolutely shocking.’
More recently, Tom filed legal documents countering Rachel’s lawsuit, which his team characterized as a ‘thinly veiled attempt to extend her fame and to rebrand herself as the victim instead of the other woman,’ according to Page Six.
Rachel’s attorneys Mark Geragos and Bryan Freedman responded with a statement on her behalf to DailyMail.com, stating: ‘Sandoval’s response in the face of irrefutable evidence that will be presented in court is disturbing.’
The statement continued: ‘Leveraging such claims for media attention and perpetuating victim-blaming is not just deplorable but actionable.”
Her updates included a lengthy selfie video that allowed her more than half a million followers to get a close look at her crop top
Ariana dumped her boyfriend of nine years Tom Sandoval last March after she discovered he had conducted an affair with Rachel
‘I feel like I’ve been portrayed as the ultimate villain,’ Rachel told Bethenny Frankel in August: ‘My mistakes that I’ve made on camera live on forever’
Ariana was scathing in her reaction to the interview, saying Bethenny’s interview with Rachel had ‘impacted’ her mental health
On Bethenny’s podcast, Rachel blamed drinking and heartbreak for the affair, saying that she had entered treatment in order to ‘try to understand my actions.’
Addressing her viewers and her co-stars, she issued an emotional apology for ‘the hurt that I brought to a lot of people.’
She explained: ‘I was not careful in my actions and I was not thinking long-term. I was completely wrapped up in heartbreak and wanting to get certain needs met.’
Rachel also laid the blame on alcohol, saying: ‘When I was filming, I was drinking a lot to ease that anxiety and in a reality TV environment, I wasn’t getting that safe space for me to express my emotions in a healthy way.’
Sharing that she was ‘remorseful’ for the ‘pain’ she had brought upon Ariana, she nevertheless did not expect her former friend to forgive her.
Ariana was scathing in her reaction to the podcast, saying Bethenny’s interview with Rachel had ‘impacted’ her mental health.
Her wrath was directed less at Rachel than at Bethenny, who in speaking to Rachel had brought up the fact that Ariana and Tom never got married or had children.
Ariana noted that Tom would have been regarded as her common-law husband ‘in many states,’ saying of Bethenny’s remarks: ‘I find that hurtful in regards to other women in relationships who don’t have children. Maybe they can’t have children or don’t want children or don’t want to get married.’
She went on: ‘None of those people’s relationships are less meaningful because of that…she should know better than to say that about anybody.’
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
Mail Online
