Credit: Seth Browarnik/startraksphotos
Lala Kent claims she was “prey” for her former fiance, producer and director Randall Emmett, who flooded her with gifts and put her in movies after meeting her at the hostess stand at SUR Restaurant years ago.
As Randall continues to be accused of abusive behavior toward women and mistreatment of staff (which he denies), both in a Los Angeles Times investigation and a recently-released Hulu documentary, The Randall Scandal: Love, Loathing, and Vanderpump, Lala is admitting that she feels “free.”
“I think what makes me the happiest is that I finally recognize myself again,” Lala explained in a May 22 interview with the Los Angeles Times. “For a really long time, I lived in this fog of: How did I turn into someone who I don’t know? What happened to the girl who comes from Utah? I feel free.”
“If I were listening to this story, I wouldn’t believe it,” Lala continued. “I get it. I know the optics. I know how the outside world looks at me.”
According to Lala, who once described herself as a “Michael Vick fighting dog” and bragged about Randall giving her a Range Rover after they “banged” on “the first night,” which Randall claims she said “for shock value,” she understands why Ariana Madix has gotten more sympathy amid her own cheating scandal.
“My heart breaks for Ariana, and I love that everyone rallied around her,” she said. “But then I think about people that were saying they hope that I donate some of my ‘Send it to Darrell’ merch money to her legal fees.”
Although Lala split from Randall in October 2021 amid claims of infidelity, she had already gotten a bad rap as a “mistress” — due to the fact that Randall was married to actress Ambyr Childers at the time their romance began (Lala claims he told her they had split) — and a gold-digger.
Looking back at the start of their relationship, Lala acknowledged that she was impressed by Randall’s resume.
“Obviously, I would tell myself: ‘Run away,’” she said of what she’d do differently if she could go back to that time. “I wish that I could go back and protect that version of myself. I was prime prey for Randall Emmett.”
After Randall put Lala in several of her films and sent her numerous gifts, including Christian Louboutin shoes, a Chanel purse, and a bottle of Tito’s Vodka, the two of them traveled to New York City, where their sexual relationship began.
“He said ‘Wow, you’re really the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen,’” she said, noting that she had felt comfortable enough to remove her makeup. “I felt like he was seeing me, not the person on TV. I was like, ‘Wow, we’re soulmates. I’m going to be with someone who has their own thing going on. I’m on a TV show. We could potentially become a power couple.’”
After Randall paid for her to live in a $2,400-per-month apartment, where the cast of The Hills previously lived, the two of them moved into his Holmby Hills estate, which is currently for sale for $4.75 million. And while there, Lala began wondering if Randall was as wealthy as he seemed.
As she alleged, Randall asked her to pay for an $18,000 sewer bill (Randall said it was $5,800 and that she paid “as a surprise ‘thank you’ for all he had done for her financially”).
While Lala starred in a number of films Randall worked in, she now finds herself doubting her talent. In fact, she no longer auditions for roles.
“It’s like, ‘They were right. I was just sleeping with the right dude,’” she said. “It’s going to take me a minute to go back and say, ‘Was I talented?’ In the moment, working with those legends, it was incredible. But now it just feels dirty.”
As Pump Rules fans well know, Lala and Randall welcomed their daughter Ocean Kent Emmett in March 2021. However, it wasn’t the joyful experience many believed it to be. Instead, after being induced and given an IV, Lala woke up to Randall telling her she looked like “part of an exorcism.”
Because Randall was supposedly so uncomfortable at the hospital, he had her mom, Lisa Burningham, fly in from Utah as he rented a hospital suite and enlisted his assistant to get him Fireball and NyQuil. Then, less than two hours after Lala gave birth, Randall reportedly left and didn’t return until the next day, when she was released.
However, according to Randall, Ocean’s birth “was one of the most wonderful moments of my life.”
“I was present for every second of it,” he insisted.
Once the then-couple returned home, Lala said Randall began making breastfeeding jokes.
“Watch your f-cking mouth. I’m still the same b-tch you met when I was 25,” she told him at the time.
“Wow,” she said he told her. “That was so hot.”
But as Randall stated, he “would never find abusive language like that ‘hot.’”
Lala and Randall ultimately parted ways after he was caught with two other women in Nashville, and in recent months, Lala has been doing what she can to limit the time he is allowed to spend with their daughter.
“I’m just shy of a million dollars into a custody battle,” she revealed.
“To this day, I look at myself and go: ‘How the f-ck did you stay?’” Lala continued. “I want to shake myself.”
But Lala wasn’t the only one fooled by Randall. Lisa Vanderpump said she was also charmed and even welcomed him into her home after their breakup.
“I’ve had him sitting in my house, crying in my living room, telling me how much he loved Lala,” she shared. “I think Lala idealized the relationship with Randall, and he obviously led her down the garden path. … I sat there and bought it, and I’m pretty savvy.”
Although Lisa said Lala “lost her way” on Pump Rules and became “difficult to work with,” leading her to question if she was right for the show, she ultimately sat Lala down and told her, “You are not running away. You have got to turn this around.”
Meanwhile, in his own interview with the Times, Randall accused Lala of deciding “to take this venomous path of anger and hatred by disparaging the father of her child.”
“During our relationship, I treated Lala like a queen. I was incredibly generous with her both emotionally and financially,” he said. “Like any couple, we had moments that were amazing and others that were not so good. Looking back, I think it’s safe to say we both have some regrets.”
Randall even said that when it comes to Lala suggesting she was prime prey for him, it was actually the other way around.
“Quite honestly, looking back I consider myself prime prey for Lala Kent. I was completely taken advantage of and used for storylines on the show,” he replied. “During the entire course of the relationship, I financially supported Lala and her family.”
The three-part Vanderpump Rules season 10 reunion begins on Wednesday, May 24, at 9/8c on Bravo.