Tom Sandoval Deleted His Instagram To Avoid Angry Fans

Summary

• Tom Sandoval's Instagram deactivation was no mystery, as his lawsuit drama with Ariana Madix was clearly the cause.
• Vanderpump Rules fans were quick to pick sides, with Ariana's lawyer hitting back hard in defense of her.
• Even after the deletion, VPR fans found ways to express anger on related accounts, and they did not hold back.

Vanderpump Rules star Tom Sandoval deleted his Instagram profile, which is usually a sign that some high-stakes reality TV drama is in progress, or about to go down.

Generally, when high-profile Instagram users suddenly delete their accounts, it's an indicator that something big is happening.

In this case, the likely reason Sandoval deleted his Instagram account was decidedly not mysterious, and it looked to be fallout from the "Scandoval" controversy.

More specifically, it appeared that Tom deleted his Instagram account immediately after news broke that he was suing VPR co-star Ariana Madix, on the grounds of alleged invasion of privacy.

Tom Is Suing Ariana Madix

On July 17, The Hollywood Reporter covered a lawsuit filed by Tom, connected to Vanderpump Rules' Season 10 finale.

According to THR, Tom's suit alleges that Ariana violated his privacy in the course of searching his phone for incriminating information.

THR included details of Sandoval's recently filed lawsuit, explaining that Madix's discovery of content depicting Tom and VPR co-star Rachel Leviss was at the center of his claim:

"In a civil suit filed in Los Angeles court, Sandoval alleges that his privacy was invaded by Madix when she illegally 'obtained access' to his phone on March 1, 2023, where she was surprised to find videos of her partner [Tom Sandoval] and Leviss.

"Madix, the suit alleges, did not have Sandoval’s 'authorization or permission' to look at his phone or view videos on the device.

"Madix then made copies of the torrid videos and distributed them to multiple third parties, the suit alleges — the same claim that Leviss has made in a suit filed against Madix."

Off the bat, details of Tom's suit against Ariana were clearly the sort that would draw immense backlash on platforms like Instagram — it's not uncommon for individuals to resort to searching a partner's phone when they suspect infidelity.

In other words, most people have some experience with being "cheated on," and even those who have been on both sides of that particular heartbreak are bound to sympathize with Madix.

In that context, it seemed that fans would be likelier to "side with" Ariana than Tom, irrespective of their standing among fans of the show.

Then there's the statement provided by Ariana's lawyer to THR, which was basically a clarion call to heartbroken VPR fans to leap to her defense.

That statement did not pull punches, and again, would certainly resonate with anyone who understood the feeling of discovering their partner had been unfaithful.

It asserted that Tom knew "full well what sort of privileges he and Ms. Madix shared in regard to their personal communication devices," implying that Ariana had tacit permission to look at his phone.

The statement essentially counterclaimed that Tom's lawsuit against Ariana was in actuality because he got caught, described Leviss as Sandoval's "mistress," and it was brutal from the outset:

"It is abhorrent that Tom Sandoval continues to torment Ms. Madix.

"From engaging in an illicit affair that shattered her home and stability, to months of emotional warfare and now this attempt to further shirk personal responsibility for the effects his actions have had on her and her emotional wellbeing. ...

"If he or his mistress had their way, it would be illegal for someone to discover their spouse or significant other was having an affair."

Ouch. The statement continued, with Ariana's attorney batting the prelude to a defense out of the park:

"For Mr. Sandoval to go from begging Ms. Madix for forgiveness to blaming her for his wrongdoing speaks for itself.

"Even months after The New York Times branded Mr. Sandoval 'the most hated man in America,' he has clearly learned nothing and believes it necessary to continue torturing Ms. Madix in a vain effort to rehabilitate his image.

"Ms. Madix is confident that a jury will see through this latest ploy and dismiss his frivolous claims."

As the outlet noted, Rachel/Raquel Leviss filed a lawsuit of her own earlier this year.

Tom Sandoval's Instagram Account Vanished After His Lawsuit Became Public

To the surprise of no one, Tom Sandoval's Instagram account disappeared almost immediately, drawing a fresh round of criticism.

Glamour covered Tom's Instagram "dirty delete," and reiterated details Ariana provided during a 2023 interview about "Scandoval."

In another familiar collision of technology and romantic relationships, Ariana gave an exceedingly plausible reason for accessing the material in question — she says their accounts were "synced":

"Madix told Glamour in June of 2023 that her and Sandoval’s devices were synced at the time of the affair.

"'A few weeks after all of this [broke], I was just doing stuff on the laptop,' she said. 'I bought it, so it’s mine now — and I found all kinds of stuff in the Notes app.

"'It would be a note labeled 'restaurant,' but then way down at the bottom there’s screenshots of text messages and things like that."

Per PageSix.com, Tom's Instagram deletion didn't prevent angry fans from chasing him down on related accounts, such as the Instagram account for the bar he co-owns with VPR's Tom Schwartz:

"'Tom Sandoval is suing Ariana now!? Are u [expletive] kidding me. Fire that [expletive] now. He is the lowest of the low and I will not spend ONE DOLLAR at your establishment [if it] will go to that trashbagg [sic],' one angry person commented on the bar’s latest post."

As of July 18, Tom Sandoval's Instagram remained deactivated, and comments on their bar's (Schwartz & Sandy's) account were turned off for every post.