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Vanderpump Rules’ James Kennedy Spotted Drinking in NJ After 2 Years of Sobriety
Back to old habits? Vanderpump Rules star James Kennedy was “belligerent” and drinking again following two years of sobriety, an eyewitness exclusively tells In Touch.
“He was super drunk,” the witness says about Kennedy, 30, who was hosting a party at the Pool After Dark at Harrah’s in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He was accompanied by friends and Pump Rules costars Tom Schwartz and Tom Sandoval at the event.
The witness continues, “[Kennedy] ran in and out of the venue multiple times when he didn’t get his way — management had to reel him in. He was drinking, and did not care about how he acted.”
“At one point he was calling for security, because he was upset there wasn’t enough security around him, and at another point he was screaming for a water,” the partygoer explains. “But he did have a bottle of Tito‘s and a champagne bottle at the DJ booth according to one of the staff. I saw him drinking champagne but I did see them give him single drinks at various times but he didn’t drink them at that moment.”
Despite Kennedy’s behavior, he was a hit among the female attendees. “They were cheering for him! He did put on a great energetic show,” the witness adds.
A rep clarified he had miscommunication with the management team with regard to his DJ equipment. He was running around furiously trying to get his equipment setup before he went on.
The U.K. native has been open about his struggles with alcohol in the past. Kennedy began his sobriety journey thanks to encouragement from his then-fiancé, Raquel Leviss. She opened up about Kennedy’s sobriety on a season 9 episode of the hit Bravo series.
“James has made so much progress,” Leviss, 27, said in her confessional. “He’s been sober ever since I gave the ultimatum to him.”
However, she explained that Kennedy was still using marijuana. “I guess you can say that James is a California sober,” she added at the time.
In July 2021, Kennedy celebrated his two-year sobriety anniversary. “IM 2 YEARS SOBER TODAY[purple heart emoji],” he captioned an Instagram photo of himself holding the dog he and Leviss adopted, Graham Cracker, while standing next to a black No. 2 balloon. ” Thank you everyone that has supported me and my journey so far. Here’s to many more years alcohol free #forlife (to anyone struggling trust me the light at the end is brighter then anything I could of imagined. and if I can do it you can too) [purple heart emoji].”
Unfortunately, Kennedy and Leviss split and called off their engagement in December 2021. “After these 5 wonderful years we had together, we decided we have two different goals and made the decision to call off the engagement,” they each wrote in joint Instagram statements at the time. “We love each other very much, but we aren’t in love anymore. We want nothing but the best for each other so please keep any thoughts positive. Sending Love.”
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