Ariana Madix had a lot added to her legal plate this week after a woman sued her amid a sandwich shop partnership beef Thursday, just two days after Madix’s ex-boyfriend Tom Sandoval sued her over the NSFW video of another woman that she found on his phone.
In the latest lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, plaintiff Penny Davidi Borsuk alleges Madix and her Vanderpump Rules co-star Katie Maloney failed to honor an oral agreement that guaranteed her a 10 percent partnership stake in the women’s sandwich shop, named Something About Her, that opened in West Hollywood last May. Borsuk alleges that under the agreement allegedly forged in June 2023, Madix and Maloney promised her the title of “COO/Director of Culinary” and payment of $7,500 per month up until Jan. 1, 2024, and $10,000 per month after that. Borsuk alleges Madix and Maloney benefited from her “substantial work” on the restaurant project and then “repudiated the existence” of their agreement.
The law firm representing Madix in her legal war with Sandoval did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday regarding the sandwich shop complaint. Attempts to reach a rep for Maloney were not immediately successful.
It was late Tuesday that Sandoval sued Madix, his ex-girlfriend, for invasion of privacy. He made the claim in a cross-complaint filed in the wild legal war that started last February when former Vanderpump Rules cast member Raquel Leviss first sued both Sandoval and Madix. In her complaint, Leviss claimed Sandoval surreptitiously recorded an “intimate” video of her during the secret affair they started while Sandoval was still living with Madix. Leviss claimed Madix committed “revenge porn” when she discovered the video on Sandoval’s phone, copied it and allegedly shared it with others. Madix denies this claim.
After Sandoval sued Madix, lawyers for both Madix and Leviss fired back. “It is abhorrent that Tom Sandoval continues to torment Ms. Madix,” Madix’s lawyer, Jordan Susman, said in a statement sent to Rolling Stone. He said Sandoval engaged “in an illicit affair that shattered [Madix’s] home and stability,” and that Sandoval subjected Madix to “months of emotional warfare.” Susman blasted Sandoval for attempting “to further shirk personal responsibility for the effects his actions have had on her and her emotional wellbeing.”
“Mr. Sandoval knows full well what sort of privileges he and Ms. Madix shared in regard to their personal communication devices. If he or his mistress had their way, it would be illegal for someone to discover their spouse or significant other was having an affair,” Susman said. “For Mr. Sandoval to go from begging Ms. Madix for forgiveness to blaming her for his wrongdoing speaks for itself. Even months after the New York Times branded Mr. Sandoval ‘the most hated man in America,’ he has clearly learned nothing and believes it necessary to continue torturing Ms. Madix in a vain effort to rehabilitate his image. Ms. Madix is confident that a jury will see through this latest ploy and dismiss his frivolous claims.”
Leviss’ lawyer, Bryan Freedman, said Sandoval was the one who started the mess. “Tom Sandoval should not have recorded Rachel without her consent in the first place. He grossly invaded her privacy,” Freedman said. “Notwithstanding the court’s determination that Ariana’s conduct was illegal, Tom’s attempt to deflect responsibility for his own wrongdoing is tone deaf.”