Leviss sued Madix in a revenge porn lawsuit after Madix allegedly accessed explicit photos of Leviss on ex Tom Sandoval’s phone
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NEED TO KNOW
- Ariana Madix’s appeal in Rachel Leviss’ revenge porn lawsuit was denied by a Los Angeles judge
- Leviss claims Madix accessed and shared explicit videos without authorization, including with Bravo employees
- The lawsuit stems from fallout over Leviss’ affair with Madix’s then-boyfriend and Vanderpump Rules costar Tom Sandoval
Ariana Madix has lost her appeal against fellow Vanderpump Rules alum Rachel Leviss’ revenge porn lawsuit against her.
Leviss, 31, filed the lawsuit against Madix, 41, amid the fallout of her relationship with Madix’s then-boyfriend Tom Sandoval, according to the latest filing obtained by PEOPLE.
“Madix learned of the affair when she found sexually explicit videos of Leviss on Sandoval’s cell phone, which Madix then recorded and sent to Leviss,” the documents read. “After the affair became public, Leviss filed suit against Madix for Madix’s alleged conduct in accessing, copying, and disseminating the videos.”
The Love Island USA host filed an appeal in the case, citing that she only sent the photos back to Leviss and did not distribute them for public consumption. A Los Angeles judge has now ruled to strike down this appeal, saying “she failed to meet her burden of establishing that the claims alleged against her arose from constitutionally protected activity.”
However, in her lawsuit, Leviss claims that Madix “obtained these videos from Sandoval’s cell phone without his authorization,” and “distributed and disseminated them to others, including but not limited to Madix herself, Leviss, and other individuals whose identities are not currently known to Leviss.”
Credit: Nicole Weingart/Bravo via Getty
Leviss also accused Madix of sharing the explicit content with “individuals” working for Bravo. Madix’s legal team had argued in the appeal that the affair was “a matter of public interest.”
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“Revenge porn is a type of nonconsensual porn, defined as the distribution of sexually graphic images or videos of an individual without their consent in the context of an intimate relationship,” according to the National Association of Attorneys General.
In March 2023, news broke that Vanderpump Rules star Sandoval had been having an affair with his costar Leviss, despite being in a nearly nine-year relationship with Madix. At the time, sources told PEOPLE that Madix was “completely blindsided,” and that “devastated doesn’t even scratch the surface of how she feels.”
Sandoval, 43, joined the Vanderpump Rules cast when the show premiered on Bravo in January 2013. Madix joined the Vanderpump Rules cast for season 2. Meanwhile, Leviss made her first appearance on the show in 2016.
PEOPLE has reached out to attorneys for Madix and Leviss for comment.
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