Throughout part 1 of the Vanderpump Rules reunion on May 24, many of Tom Sandoval‘s cast members went after him for the pain he caused by cheating on Ariana Madix with Raquel Leviss. It was obvious why Ariana was so upset, but James Kennedy, who was previously engaged to Raquel, admitted that he felt pretty betrayed, too. However, it wasn’t because he’s not over Raquel or anything like that — he said that he felt like Sandoval completely disregarded their friendship by exploring a romance with his ex.
Lisa Vanderpump tried saying that Ariana’s feelings “were a little more important,” but Ariana disagreed because “they were like brothers.” Sandoval, however, shot back at the claim and said they only “talked like once a month”, so they were far from being like “brothers”.
Lala Kent reminded Sandoval that he “paid for half” of James’ proposal in 2021, so why would he even try to say that they weren’t close friends? When James further said that Sandoval was like a “big brother” to him, Sandoval dismissed it by saying that’s just what James called him — it didn’t mean it was a real thing.
“It just goes to show how much of a friend you never were [then]!” James yelled at Sandoval from across the room before calling him an “opportunist.” And that’s when Sandoval called James an “opportunist” because he “f***ed Kristen [Doute] to get on the show.”
James Kennedy is activated 😭 He even made Andy and LVP laugh #pumprules pic.twitter.com/4nP1ytY7HM
— Queens of Bravo (@queensofbravo) May 25, 2023
Immediately after that was said, James stood up from his chair, started approaching Sandoval and said it was when he “was 21”, so it’s not the same thing as Sandoval, who’s 40, doing all the things he’s been doing to stay relevant.
Andy Cohen had to jump up, grab James and scoot him away from Sandoval, while Lisa told him to “stop it” and “go back” to his seat. “Bro, you’re a 42 year old!” James yelled at Sandoval while he made his way back to his chair. Sandoval told James that he “stood up” for him after his breakup with Raquel, but James said he doesn’t need anything from Sandoval any longer.
“You’re a loser and your bar is going down the drain, you backstabbing ho!” he yelled.
Sandoval then told James that if he gets in his face again, he’ll “f*** him up”, so James called his bluff and started approaching him again. Andy jumped in the middle, but James still threatened to “beat” Sandoval’s “a**”. Andy ordered James to stay in his chair, but he walked off set so he could get a break instead — he just called Sandoval a “worm with a mustache” while doing so as Ariana smirked from the side.
Want more? An extended version of this episode will be available on Peacock May 25, while part 2 of the reunion will air next Wednesday at 9pm ET on Bravo.