Celebrity News March 29, 2023
Raquel Leviss’ Restraining Order Against Scheana Shay Dismissed
On Wednesday, Raquel Leviss’ restraining order against “Vanderpump Rules” co-star Scheana Shay was dismissed.
Leviss did not appear in court for the hearing, so the judge dropped the TRO. Scheana was on hand in case she needed to share her side of the story.
After the hearing, Shay’s lawyer Neama Rahmani gave a statement to “Extra.” Referencing Leviss by her legal first name, Rahmani said, “This isn’t reality TV. This is the real world and Rachel’s actions have real consequences. Rachel filed a false police report, a false medical report, and a frivolous petition for a restraining order.”
“Scheana didn’t punch Rachel. Rachel didn’t get a black eye. Scheana pushed Rachel but only after Rachel grabbed her wrist, and Rachel did not suffer a concussion,” Rahmani argued. “When Rachel realized that she would lose in court and that she couldn’t just drop it, she decided to not show up at all. We were prepared to expose Rachel’s lies, but instead she will have to live knowing that she betrayed two of her best friends: Scheana and Ariana.”
Rahmani ended the lengthy statement saying, “Instead of accepting responsibility for her actions, Rachel shamefully tried to misuse our justice system to shift blame to Scheana. We are happy that Scheana is now vindicated.”
Raquel’s legal team also released their own statement to People magazine. They said, “At least [Rahmani] finally admits there was physicality involved and Raquel stands by her initial statement that Scheana punched her in the face supported by photos of her bruised eyebrow bone and slashed eyebrow.”
They added, “Scheana and her attorney were notified from the reunion to emails that Raquel wasn't moving forward with the RO. The court was notified by Raquel's counsel that we were not attending and are not moving forward and we had filed the paperwork requested by the court clerk which is stamped received. Their attendance was to grandstand which was predictable...."
Earlier this month, news broke that Tom Sandoval cheated on longtime girlfriend Ariana Madix with Raquel.
The cheating scandal had also caused bad blood between Raquel and Scheana Shay, with Leviss claiming Shay punched her in the face. She later took out a restraining order against Shay. While Scheana denies any wrongdoing, they legally couldn’t be in the same room together.
Rahmani told "Extra" in a statement that Raquel had host Andy Cohen “serve” Scheana with papers during the “Vanderpump Rules” reunion, but they had “no legal meaning.” He believes it was a “public relations stunt.”
Rahmani, using Raquel’s legal name Rachel, explained, "It was a request to dismiss a complaint or a civil lawsuit, but Rachel had requested a permanent restraining order, which is something completely different."
The attorney, from West Coast Trial Lawyers, went on, "There is no way for Rachel to ‘drop’ the temporary restraining order before next week’s hearing. This is California law and even on the court’s website."
Furthermore, Rahmani added, "Even if Rachel had the correct document, which she didn’t, it wasn’t filed with the court. There is no file stamp in the top right corner. This was just another public relations stunt by Rachel and her team."
Raquel Leviss Had Andy Cohen ‘Serve’ Scheana Shay with Papers at ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Reunion (Report)
View StoryHe insisted, "If Rachel really wanted to make this go away, she would come out and publicly say the ‘punch’ never happened and she is sorry for all the harm she caused Scheana, Ariana, and her other friends.”
A source told People magazine that both legal teams tried to work out a resolution before the reunion, but couldn’t come to an agreement.
They said, “Production was aware that Raquel wanted to drop the TRO so that she and Scheana could film together. Raquel was hoping they could agree that their argument escalated and got physical, but that there was no fault and that they wouldn't speak about it after the reunion. But Scheana's team wanted Raquel to say the punch never happened, and Raquel wouldn't say that. So talks came to a standstill."
Another insider pointed out, “Even if a settlement had been agreed, Shay would have been bound by the TRO until after the hearing date for a permanent RO — which fell days after the reunion."
Raquel and Scheana ended up being in separate rooms and filmed separately.