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Katie Maloney Slams Tom Sandoval for Comparing Scandoval to George Floyd’s Death and O.J. Simpson
Katie Maloney was the first Vanderpump Rules cast member to publicly slam Tom Sandoval for a tone-deaf interview where he compared the pop culture impact of his cheating scandal with Raquel Leviss to that of George Floyd’s murder and O.J. Simpson‘s trial.
In a Tuesday, February 20, interview with The New York Times, Tom, 40, was asked about why “Scandoval” got “so big.”
“I’m not a pop-culture historian really. But I witnessed the O.J. Simpson thing and George Floyd and all these big things, which is really weird to compare this to that, I think, but do you think in a weird way it’s a little bit the same?” Tom asked the publication’s reporter.
Katie, 37, responded to the Instagram page Bravobybetches, which posted Tom’s quote, commenting, “The f–k?” She added, “Sorry for the curse word but I have no other words.”
Numerous fans agreed with Katie, with one telling her, “You said what we all were thinking,” while another added, “@musickillskate only correct answer. No one died during Scandoval. He needs to get over himself.”
“Does he think Scandoval was literally historic news?” one person replied to Katie, while another wrote, “His ego is really unbelievable. To compare himself to O.J. who MURDERED his wife or George Floyd who was killed!? He’s a f–king BARTENDER wannabe actor who cheated on his gf. Nothing more. It’s just unreal. @arianamadix you should never look back. Bye.”
Katie wrote a second comment aimed at ex-husband Tom Schwartz, who as Sandoval’s friend and business partner may have been able to shed light on the bizarre comparison. “Hey Tom Schwartz you wanna come explain what he was really trying to say?” she asked.
Later in the day, Sandoval issued an apology via his Instagram Stories, writing, “My intentions behind the comments I made in New York Times Magazine were to explain the level of national media attention my affair received.”
He added, “The comparison was inappropriate and ignorant. I’m incredibly sorry and embarrassed.”
Sandoval cheated on his partner of nine years, Ariana Madix, with her close friend Raquel, 29, during a seven-month affair, which the Dancing With the Stars finalist uncovered in early March 2023 and promptly split from the TomTom club co-owner.
News of the cheating scandal broke while season 10 of Vanderpump Rules was airing, as viewers were able to watch Tom and Raquel’s actions as Ariana, 37, was completely unaware of what was happening.
While it turned out to be a boom for the show’s ratings, fans thought Sandoval was completely out of line comparing it to two of the most significant news events of the past 30 years. One noted, “3 people were murdered in the other scenarios… and Tom thinks he’s not a narcissist.”
Simpson was a beloved former NFL star when he was arrested and tried for the brutal June 1994 murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman. Despite evidence against the ex-athlete presented in the trial of the century, a Los Angeles jury acquitted him of the slayings in 1995*. Simpson was found liable for their deaths in a 1997 civil suit and ordered to pay Ron’s father, Fred Goldman, $33.5 million in damages.
George Floyd’s May 2020 arrest was caught on video where then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was white, kneeled on his neck despite pleas that he couldn’t breathe. Floyd, who was Black, later died and the video went viral, causing protest marches and rioting nationwide and fueling the rise of Black Lives Matter.
Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder in Floyd’s killing and was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison in April 2021.
