A California appellate court has rejected Ariana Madix’s attempt to dismiss a revenge porn lawsuit filed by her former “Vanderpump Rules” castmate Raquel Leviss. The decision, handed down Wednesday, allows the case to move forward after remaining stalled for over two years while the appeal was pending. Madix, who now hosts “Love Island USA,” had sought to have the claims against her thrown out on free speech grounds.
The lawsuit centers on allegations that Madix obtained and distributed intimate videos of Leviss without consent. According to court documents, Madix accessed her ex-boyfriend Tom Sandoval’s phone and copied FaceTime recordings, which she then sent to Leviss. Madix has maintained she only shared the videos with Leviss herself and no one else, claiming she discovered them after Sandoval’s phone was handed to her for safekeeping at a West Hollywood nightclub.
A lower court had previously determined that Madix’s conduct fell outside the protection of California’s anti-SLAPP law, which shields certain lawful speech from litigation. The appellate court upheld this ruling, finding that Madix’s actions were unlawful regardless of free speech considerations. Leviss filed the lawsuit in February 2024 with claims of revenge porn, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Sandoval is also named in the case. A status hearing is scheduled for August 11.
Originally reported by Rollingstone →
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