Vanderpump Rules stars Ariana Madix and Katie Maloney were hit with a shocking lawsuit by a business partner involved in helping launch their sandwich shop Something About Her, In Touch has learned.
According to court documents obtained by In Touch, Penny Davidi Borsuk sued Ariana, 39, and Katie, 37, in Los Angeles Superior Court.
In her complaint, Penny said she entered into a contract with the reality stars in June 2023.
The agreement was to “jointly engage in the business of developing, creating, owning, operating, promoting … and otherwise profiting and benefiting from … a restaurant, fashion, merchandise, and lifestyle, brand, business, and property … to be known as Something About Her.”
Ariana and Katie opened their long-awaited sandwich shop Something About Her in West Hollywood, California, on May 22.
Penny said the deal had her own 10 percent with Ariana and Katie splitting the remaining ownership.
Penny said she was to be named the COO/Director of Culinary with a host of agreed-upon tasks and responsibilities.
She said the deal had her being paid $7,000 per month which would be raised to $10,000 per month in January. Penny said she performed “substanial work” and “undertook substanial tasks in full expectation” Ariana and Katie would follow the deal.
Penny said despite her hard work and the deal, Ariana and Katie claim the contract is not valid. Her lawsuit demanded the court enforce the agreement.
The case is the latest in a string of legal issues brought against Ariana.
Her former costar Raquel Leviss sued Ariana and Ariana’s ex-boyfriend Tom Sandoval for invasion of privacy and revenge porn.
Raquel had an affair with Tom. In her lawsuit, she accused him of secretly recording explicit FaceTime conversations they had. Ariana found the explicit videos on Tom’s phone which led to their explosive breakup. Raquel said Ariana text her the videos and a message telling her she was “dead” to her.
In the suit, Raquel accused Ariana of potentially sharing the videos with third parties. “[Raquel] is informed and believes, and on such information and belief alleges, that [Ariana] obtained the videos of [Raquel] from [Tom’s] mobile phone and distributed and disseminated them to others, including but not limited to [herself], [Raquel], and other individuals whose identities are not currently known to [Raquel],” her suit read.
Ariana denied she ever shared the video with anyone but admitted accessing Tom’s phone without his knowledge.
She told the court, “I did not send the videos to anyone else. Nor did I share, display, or show the videos to anyone else.”
“To be clear, I only saw the video of [Raquel] masturbating in places secluded from others,” she added.
Raquel opposed Ariana’s attempt to escape her lawsuit. She said, “It is not just that [Ariana] had discovered the recordings and confronted me about their contents. If that were all that happened, [Ariana] would not have been named in this lawsuit. But that is not all that happened. In her own sworn testimony, [Ariana] acknowledges that she stole and disseminated them. She distributed the recordings from their original source on [Tom’s] phone to herself and to me at a minimum.”
“Without conducting discovery on third parties, it is difficult for me to determine whether [Ariana] distributed the videos more widely than she acknowledges. However, there is every reason to believe that she showed the recordings to others and may have sent them to others as well. It is undisputed, however, that as a result of [Ariana’s] actions, the circle of possession widened from Sandoval alone to [Tom], [Ariana], and me,”
A judge recently ruled the case will proceed despite Ariana’s motion to dismiss the case.
Earlier this week, Tom filed a cross-complaint against Ariana in Raquel’s lawsuit. He accused her of accessing his phone without his consent.
Ariana’s lawyer, Jordan Susman, called out Tom after he filed suit.
He said, “It is abhorrent that Tom Sandoval continues to torment Ms. Madix. From engaging in an illicit affair that shattered her home and stability, to months of emotional warfare and now this attempt to further shirk personal responsibility for the effects his actions have had on her and her emotional wellbeing. Tom Sandoval knows full well what sort of privileges he and Ms. Madix shared in regard to their personal communication devices.”
Ariana and Tom are also facing off in a separate legal battle over the home they purchased during their relationship.
