Tom Sandoval is clarifying what he meant by his controversial comment about ex-girlfriend Ariana Madix keeping a t-shirt on during sex.
“I think people added their own context to it,” the TomTom cofounder, 40, told TMZ of the remark on Wednesday, June 14, adding that he’s “never body-shamed Ariana ever.”
He continued: “It had nothing to do with her body or anything. It had to do with someone being very unenthusiastic. … Like, if somebody wanted to have sex with me and I just unzipped my zipper and said, like, ‘Oh, hurry up, I gotta meet somebody for lunch.’ It was more about the unenthusiasm.”
Sandoval made the comment in question during part 3 of the Vanderpump Rules season 10 reunion, which aired earlier this month. When Ariana, 37, pointed out that she and her then-boyfriend had sex after he’d already begun his months-long affair with Raquel Leviss, the Missouri native sarcastically shot back, “She kept her T-shirt on. It was really hot.”
The dig about his sex life with Ariana — whom he dated for nine years until they called it quits in March amid the cheating scandal — prompted backlash from Sandoval’s costars and fans of the Bravo series. James Kennedy and Ariana both called the comment “disgusting” while Andy Cohen visibly cringed. Tom Schwartz, for his part, lowered his head and said, “Don’t say that, dude. Don’t say that.”
Lala Kent shared her feelings on the matter during a Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen appearance that aired directly after the final part of the reunion. “The t-shirt comment made me feel sick to my stomach,” the “Give Them Lala” podcaster, 32, said.
Cohen, 55, also weighed in on the eyebrow-raising remark during an episode of his Andy Cohen Live radio show. “I think there are a lot of people with body issues,” the talk show host said. “And by the way, Ariana herself in past seasons of Vanderpump Rules has talked about not feeling good about her body, so to weaponize that — it was so cringey.”
Ariana, for her part, hasn’t let the low blow keep her down. The Florida native took to Instagram as the reunion episode was airing to drop a shirt that reads: “F—k Me in This T-Shirt.” The top is being sold through her and Katie Maloney’s sandwich shop, Something About Her, for $34.99. (Something About Her is set to open this summer).
In addition to commenting on the T-shirt debacle, Sandoval gave TMZ his reaction to Schwartz’s recent comments about “permanently” stepping back from the cheating scandal drama.
During the Monday, June 12, episode of Stars on Mars, Schwartz, 40, revealed how his business partner’s affair with Leviss, 28, negatively impacted his own life.
“[Sandoval] had a torrid affair. It’s horrible and I feel complicit because I didn’t cover for him, but I had his back. He came to me and confided in me that he was in love with someone else,” Schwartz said. “Ultimately, that’s his life. I did not have an affair. I am not him. And it’s just so strange that I’ve been absolutely mired in this.”
While many believed that the Minnesota native was implying that he wanted to take a step back from his friendship with his Schwartz & Sandy’s cofounder, Sandoval told TMZ on Wednesday that Schwartz wasn’t insinuating that he’s cutting his business partner and longtime friend out of his life. “He said he’s indefinitely over talking about Scandoval. Not Sandoval, Scandoval,” he emphasized.
The Tom Sandoval & the Most Extras musician added that he has “no idea” when Leviss will be getting out of the mental health treatment facility she checked herself into in April.
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“I just don’t wanna comment on anything with her. I’d let her tell her own story when she’s ready,” he said of the former pageant queen.
