Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo, Instagram
James Kennedy revealed the message he received from Ariana Madix immediately after she learned of Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss‘ months-long affair on Wednesday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live.
Before explaining his real issue with Tom Schwartz, teasing the upcoming (and sure-to-be-dramatic) reunion, and admitting that he hopes Sandoval and Raquel’s controversial romance will last, the Vanderpump Rules star addressed rumors of a kiss between Raquel and Brock Davies, Sandoval’s interview with Howie Mandel, and more.
During a Q&A game that asked James if he was jealous on the April 26 episode of WWHL, James denied being jealous of his castmates who’ve made money off of Scandoval.
“No. Because I’m at the top of the leaderboard on Cameo right now. Cha-ching. Cha-ching! [I charge] $99.99.”
Then, after responding to a fan who asked if he felt girlfriend Ally Lewber looked like his mom, Jacqueline Georgiou, saying they “don’t really look alike,” James moved on to topics related to Scandoval.
“Look, there’s mob mentality. There’s mobs nowadays. There’s cancel culture. There’s mobs. If you do something outrageous, expect people to be outraged,” he stated.
Although James was in love with Raquel for many years, he told host Andy Cohen that he doesn’t have much empathy for her, saying she “was always a big Sandoval fan, massive Sandoval fan.”
“Who’s writing these questions? No. Andy, I am very busy in my own life,” he stated. “I’m not waking up thinking about Scandoval. The first time I have to look at my phone, I get a little bit of a reminder. But no, I’m not thinking about ‘Oh Scandoval.’ I have no time, Andy.”
He didn’t even have time to watch Sandoval’s full interview with Howie, although he did see clips.
“Oh god, painful, a rock bottom moment,” he described. “And even the darkness of the cave it was in and he’s wearing all black nowadays with a cigarette. It was too much. It was too much. It was too much. I couldn’t get through it.”
James went on to say that he does not believe Sandoval and Ariana had an open relationship. He also claims he knows “for a fact” that Raquel wasn’t Sandoval’s first affair, and he notes that the last time he saw Sandoval, aside from the reunion, was two days before Scandoval broke.
“I saw Sandoval at my interview space like two days before this all broke out. Literally, ‘Sup bro?’ Acted all chill,” he recalled.
He also reacted to claims of a hookup between Raquel and Scheana Shay‘s husband.
“Can I throw up anymore?” he asked. “It’s just too much. Like, if that happened, honestly, I would have to like, I don’t know like, go to a freaking healthy spa or something. But no there’s no truth to that. Please god, there’s no truth to that.”
On the WWHL: After Show, after Andy encouraged him to tease the reunion, James replied, “Oh God no. Just wait for it,” but he admitted to feeling satisfied by the taping.
“Look, I don’t do my talks on socials. I think everyone can agree with that. Lala’s got her thing and I’ve got mine. I get it out on camera, on the show, I get it off my chest and then I let it go,” he explained.
Back on the live broadcast, James said that when it comes to Sandoval and Raquel’s future, he hopes they make it.
“In like a weird way I hope so. Just think about the dreams they’re gonna have in each other’s bed and all the traumatic sh-t they’re gonna go through,” he reasoned. “As a couple, if they survive each other and go through it, I mean, f-cking hats off … I wish them both luck and I wish them the best.”
As for whether or not he overreacted to Schwartz comparing the Imagine Festival, where he was DJing, to Rachella, his Coachella-themed proposal to Raquel, James said it wasn’t the Rachella part that annoyed him.
“It was the Imagine Festival point that annoyed me. Everyone keeps going back to that other word but I’ve stated so many times, it was about Imagine Festival — something I’ve worked so hard [on],” he shared, adding that before pouring his beer on Schwartz, he “poured half of [it] out on the sand.”
Also on WWHL, James explained how he first learned of Sandoval’s affair with Raquel.
“Ariana texted me at one in the morning and I woke up at like 7:30 in the morning and checked my text messages and literally, I was shocked. And then, this is verbatim, I said to Ariana, ‘Which Tom?’ And she wrote back, ‘Mine,’” he recalled. “I was like, ‘Huh?’ Serious stuff. I mean.”
From there, James proceeded to call a number of his castmates.
“I didn’t call Raquel. I did try calling Sandoval. First person I called was Scheana because I thought she knew,” James revealed. “I was like, ‘How could you do this to Ariana?’ And then she goes, ‘No that girl’s dead to me. I blocked her.’ So I was like, ‘Alright, fine, Scheana’s done.’ Then I called Schwartz and he just sounded like the lost puppy he is, just like, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know, James I’d really rather talk about this person.’ I’m like, ‘Oh God, how does it feel living in Sandoval’s shadow your entire life?’”
Vanderpump Rules season 10 airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.