What The Vanderpump Rules Cast Really Thought Of Tom Sandoval Posing With A Tiger
"Vanderpump Rules" villain Tom Sandoval has a reputation, at this point, for doing gross things — and he's keeping up his losing streak after posing with a tiger at a Thailand zoo.
Sandoval — the man behind the scandal of all Bravo scandals known as "Scandoval" — didn't post the footage himself, but other cast members of "Vanderpump Rules" definitely took notice. The footage of a tiger posing with its paws on Sandoval's shoulders was released via a fan account by the name of @pumprules (which isn't officially affiliated with the Bravo series).
In the comments, DJ James Kennedy — a frequent nemesis of Sandoval's and a fellow "Vanderpump Rules" regular cast member — wrote two comments on the post made by @pumprules, one of which expressed his sadness at what he viewed as animal cruelty. "I would never go to a place like this," he wrote. "Let them all run free !! always found this cruel and so sad," including emojis of a tiger and a heart. Animal cruelty, especially when it comes to tigers and elephants, has long been a major criticism levied against Thailand tourism.
Kennedy then took a direct shot at Sandoval, echoing his comments at the "Vanderpump Rules" Season 10 reunion: "Just a Worm without a mustache now." (During that infamous reunion, Sandoval did, in fact, sport a mustache, and Kennedy screamed that the man was a "worm with a mustache" during the now legendary filming process.) Kennedy wasn't the only "Vanderpump Rules" cast member who caught on, though.
Fellow cast member Lala Kent is an animal activist — and had even more to say on the matter
Lala Kent — another "Vanderpump Rules" cast member and a known friend to DJ James Kennedy and adversary to Tom Sandoval — joined the fray alongside Kennedy, posting her dismay and disgust at Sandoval's tiger-centric photo op.
"I am appalled by the photo my cast member took with a tiger in captivity. This topic has been close to my heart for many years," Kent wrote in a now-deleted Instagram story. "What is disguised as 'fun' and 'cool' is, in fact, animal abuse. It's heartbreaking. I've made noise about educating yourselves, & here I am to tell you again... Do not support places like this."
She may be a reality star who hawks hoodies about her entertainment lawyer, but Kent knows what she's talking about here, as she's a longtime activist against animal cruelty. In 2017, she appeared alongside Ariana Madix and fellow cast member Scheana Shay in a nude ad insisting that orcas be freed, and Kent also made headlines in June of 2023 for demanding that Corky, an orca at Seaworld, be released and placed in a sanctuary. Certainly, both Kennedy and Kent are happy to take shots at Sandoval over almost anything, but this time, they certainly have a point.
Why does everybody hate Tom Sandoval so much?
After years of (apparently feigned) moral superiority on "Vanderpump Rules" as he watched his friends cheat and lie on a near-constant basis, Tom Sandoval's dirty deeds were uncovered in March 2023. Early that month, his girlfriend of nine years (and frequent business partner) Ariana Madix discovered an explicit video on Sandoval's cell phone while he was performing alongside his cover band and vanity project Tom Sandoval and the Most Extras, and all hell broke loose within the Bravoverse more or less immediately.
To make everything even worse, the subject of said video was Madix and Sandoval's "Vanderpump Rules" co-star and close friend Rachel "Raquel" Leviss, who happened to be in New York taping an episode of "Watch What Happens Live" with Madix's close friend and fellow "Vanderpump Rules" star Scheana Shay. After an alleged punch — Leviss claims that Shay hit her after learning of the affair — Scandoval was officially on.
It's not an overstatement to say that Scandoval was one of the biggest news stories of 2023 — Madix and the show's matriarch Lisa Vanderpump were even invited to the White House Correspondent's Dinner as a result of the media attention — and the man at the center of all of it was (and still is) Tom Sandoval. During the Season 10 reunion, Sandoval tried to act contrite but accidentally let his real colors show a couple of times ... most notably when he mocked Madix for keeping a shirt on while the two were intimate. Now, with Season 11 on the horizon, fans will get a glimpse of the real Scandoval fallout, and it seems all but guaranteed that Sandoval will earn even more ire from his castmates.
Vanderpump Rules is returning for Season 11 — and promises plenty of Tom Sandoval-related drama
The highly anticipated 11th season of "Vanderpump Rules" — the first full one after Scandoval was uncovered smack in the middle of Season 10 — hits Bravo on January 30, and it's safe to say things will still be deeply fraught where Tom Sandoval is concerned. Antics with tigers aside (and it's also safe to say that plotline won't be a part of Season 11, which wrapped before Sandoval's shenanigans in Thailand), nearly everybody hates Sandoval, save for his ride-or-die best friend Tom Schwartz.
While speaking to TV Insider on January 2, executive producer Alex Baskin revealed that things are still definitely rough between Ariana Madix and Sandoval. "I wouldn't say that the wounds have healed," he told the outlet. "[Tom and Ariana] have not gotten to the other side of what happened."
Based on the Season 11 trailer, Madix isn't the only one still angry at Sandoval. DJ James Kennedy is seen mocking his former friend by drawing a literal line in the sand on a California beach between Madix and Sandoval, Lala Kent tells Sandoval that he's "terrifying" to her, and Scheana Shay screams at Sandoval after he accuses her of frequently being the "other woman" in relationships. Tigers or no tigers, "Vanderpump Rules" Season 11 is gearing up to be quite the ride and maybe that Thailand trip will come back around for Season 12.