![\"Vanderpump](\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Tom-Sandoval-Ariana-Madix-Rachel-Leviss.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1\")
<\/p>\nRachel “Raquel” Leviss is telling her side of the story as the legal battle over her revenge porn lawsuit continues.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On the latest episode of her Rachel Goes Rogue podcast, the former Vanderpump Rules star, 29, responded to her ex Tom Sandoval\u2019s claims in a new legal document that she videotaped herself and sent him sexually explicit videos, two months after she filed a lawsuit against him and Ariana Madix.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel anger that Tom chooses to lie to attempt to change the narrative,\u201d she claimed on the April 29 podcast episode. \u201cI don’t know how many times I can say it that he filmed me this video FaceTime without me knowing. And the video footage is me on the big screen, him on the little screen on the FaceTime call so that is him recording that video.\u201d<\/p>\n
She denied being the one who captured the video, alleging, \u201cI did not record that video. I did not send it. It was sent to me, so that can easily be disproven. So I think it’s just silly that he chooses not to take accountability and goes one step further to fabricate a story that can easily be disproven as far as doing this lawsuit to become famous as he is putting out there now.”<\/p>\n
A representative for Sandoval did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment.<\/p>\n
![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Raquel-Leviss-Thinks-She-Was-Groomed-by-Tom-Sandoval-During-Affair-inline.jpg?w=1000&quality=86&strip=all\")
Araya Doheny\/Getty<\/p>\n
The Bravo alum claimed that her ex values \u201cfame\u201d and \u201cdoing things to leverage his infamy.\u201d However, Leviss noted that she doesn\u2019t \u201cprioritize\u201d those things.<\/p>\n
She then detailed why she decided to file the revenge porn lawsuit, claiming, \u201cI am doing it to hold people accountable because recording somebody without their consent is not okay. And it has been done to other people before. That is why there are revenge porn laws now, because it has become an issue with our new digital age and sending a video that is intimate in nature to anybody is also not okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
After noting that there\u2019s a \u201clot of shame\u201d surrounding the incident, she explained, \u201cI think there’s a piece where I really chose to let go of that shame and and take ownership of my actions in a situation that is pretty shameful, and really open myself up to the the scrutiny that comes with that because I am strong enough to handle that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so I am doing this for a bigger reason. It’s not just me. It is for all the people who have had their privacy violated sexually, that are either too ashamed to speak out and hold the other people accountable or don’t have the resources or chose not to, but they know what happened. And so I’m doing it for those people,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Rachel Leviss arrives at the KIIS FM’s iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2023 Presented By Capital One at The Kia Forum on December 01, 2023 in Inglewood, California.
\nSteve Granitz\/FilmMagic<\/p>\n
Leviss shared that Sandoval\u2019s alleged actions were also behind her decision to file the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be clear, I made a bad choice to be in a relationship with Tom, but holding him responsible for the reprehensible act of illegally filming me without my consent \u2014 which then became national news and extremely detrimental to my mental well-being \u2014 is the right choice for me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The former reality star also noted that Madix needs to be held responsible for her alleged part in the dissemination of the video.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel very angry about it and more so on Tom’s part,\u201d she claimed. \u201cBut the fact that Ariana sent it out, it’s like both of those things are equally wrong, and it just blew up, and it was because of this video. So it’s like, if everyone’s out to hold people accountable, I feel like in upholding my truth and and [allowing] myself to hold these people accountable too.\u201d<\/p>\n
From left: Rachel ‘Raquel’ Leviss and Tom Sandoval attend White Fox After Hours At Delilah Los Angeles on October 18, 2022 in West Hollywood, California.
\nVivien Killilea\/Getty<\/p>\n
Leviss also reflected on what it would have looked like if she returned to Vanderpump Rules following Scandoval.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have been in a high stress environment filming with people that worked to tear me down as opposed to lift me up as a person,\u201d she hypothesized. \u201cI would have been under magnifying glass with people reporting certain things to the media, the media picking it up, creating stories that weren’t actually factual, catapulting even further into the fan fiction that was being created in the world, about my life. And, also, you know, the influence that Tom had on me. I was still protecting Tom at this time. I knew he had a big influence on me as a person and my identity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd as I was trying to break free from that, going back to do the show would force me to film with him, and I didn’t want to,\u201d she continued. \u201cI didn’t want Tom to be in my life anymore. Even if I did go back and film and was like I’m ending things with Tom. They would still create situations that would bring me back in, and I would feel the need to comment on it like I have been doing on my podcast. And, yeah, it could have been really entertaining, but I have chosen to live a more authentic life for me instead of providing entertainment for the public to consume.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m prioritizing myself over entertainment,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\n
The podcast host detailed how she and her former flame differed on their handling of the scandal, saying, \u201cFor him, I believe that doing the work is like him prioritizing the show, knowing that he has a commitment to the show and a commitment to the storyline and a commitment to the cast that he has chosen to be friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added, \u201cAnd for me, doing the work is going to therapy every week or at that time in The Meadows, going to therapy every day. Doing the work for me is fostering true friendships with authentic, intimate connections, where we are building each other up and bringing out the best in each other. Doing the work is practicing mindfulness meditation, working out my body, going for walks, not drinking alcohol, and just, like, really embodying all of that and learning how to set boundaries and and what that looks like for me and and getting guidance where I need it to make clear decisions in my life.”<\/p>\n
Leviss realized that she and Sandoval weren’t \u201cin alignment with what our values are,\u201d which ultimately led to their relationship ending.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why the relationship failed, amongst other things,\u201d she explained. \u201cBut, you know, I have different values with integrity, honesty, respect, authenticity, and kindness and self development and self growth. And through this experience and compromising my values, I have learned that those are the things that I am choosing to uphold every single day here on out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leviss said she even tried to give the relationship \u201ca shot\u201d but needed to prioritize herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I was in my recovery center \u2014 learning about myself and getting more authentic to who I am \u2014 I started really realizing that we’re not compatible in that way,\u201d she shared. \u201cActions speak louder than words. We chose different paths, and, and there’s different consequences for those choices.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanderpump Rules<\/em>\u00a0airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rachel “Raquel” Leviss is telling her side of the story as the legal battle over her revenge porn lawsuit continues. On the latest episode of her Rachel… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7824"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7824"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7826,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7824\/revisions\/7826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}