Why would any couple ever think, “Hey, let’s record ourselves arguing!” But then, we’re talking about The Valley stars Kristen Doute and Luke Broderick. So to them, it probably seemed like a good idea to tape themselves debating Tom Sandoval’s lawsuit against his ex, Ariana Madix.
“I was about to ream his asshole,” Kristen admitted when she first heard about the lawsuit, which has since been dropped. “[The idea that] Tom is suing Ariana is batsh*t f*cking crazy.”
But her boyfriend Luke remained cool and told Kristen to have faith in Sandoval’s legal team.
Nmaam Episode 4 Jazz Final
‘Vile, disgusting, deplorable, vicious and revolting’
The couple kicked off their July 18 podcast by addressing the lawsuit Sandoval had filed against his former girlfriend.
Initially, Tom and Ariana were sued in March 2024 by their former Vanderpump Rules costar Rachel Leviss. Rachel accused Tom of recording an intimate video of her without her knowledge or permission. When Ariana saw the video on Tom’s phone and realized they were having an affair, she allegedly shared it with herself and members of their friend group.
On July 16, Tom filed his own lawsuit, claiming Ariana had reviewed content on his phone without his “authorization or permission.” He also alleged that she shared the video with “[Rachel] and [other] third parties” without his authority.
At first, Luke just thought the suit was a legal maneuver to separate Tom from Ariana’s case. “His attorneys probably said, ‘Look, if you file this against Ariana, then that removes you,” Luke reasoned. “She took it from your phone, and therefore one of these allegations can get dropped against you.’”
“Those were your thoughts?” Kristen responded. “My thoughts were ‘vile, disgusting, deplorable, vicious and revolting.’”
Luke answered that even though Kristen’s known Sandoval for years, “Recently, I’ve talked to Tom more than you have. It took me by surprise.”
But Kristen didn’t “give a f*ck” about seeing Tom’s side of things.
Luke stays objective
“I’ve been sued,” he recalled. “I’ve spent six months of my life stressed to the gills from one business erroneously suing my business, costing me upwards of $40,000.”
“I know, honey. I feel you — but this is reality TV,” Kristen replied. “Everyone signed a contract. I have been doing this sh*t since 2011. Just like Tom Sandoval.”
“Kristen, do you read your contracts before you sign them?” Luke asked, to which Doute fired back, “I do, and I go through them with my lawyer.”
“Every contract that I get for my company, I read every single word,” she added. “Do I read all of my contracts for reality TV anymore? No, I do not because I’ve had the same attorney for the last 13 years.”
Believing Kristen had just proved his point, Luke pressed on. “If [your attorney] were to say, ‘This is a standard thing and it’s normal for this type of proceeding. It’s basically just to help things move along faster or something that simple.’ Would you take the time to read every word of it? Or would you trust him and sign it?”
The Bravo newbie continued, “So [Tom] didn’t know the full scale of what he was doing.” And that’s probably why he dropped his suit against Ariana so quickly. Plus it was making him really, really unpopular, and we all know how much he hates that.
The Valley is now streaming on Peacock.
