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‘Vanderpump Rules’ Producers Fire Back at Faith Stowers’ Discrimination Lawsuit, ‘Vigorously Dispute’ Claims
The producers behind Vanderpump Rules fired back at ex-cast member Faith Stowers’ lawsuit who claimed she was driven out of the show by a “vicious campaign of racist harassment and retaliation,” In Touch can exclusively report.
According to court documents obtained by In Touch, Evolution Media responded to the lawsuit brought by Stowers, 35, in April.
Stowers, who appeared on 51 episodes of the Bravo reality show, said she was recruited by Lisa Vanderpump, 63, to add “color” to the cast.
Her lawsuit claimed, “Very quickly, however, Stowers realized that she was getting more than she bargained for.” Her powerhouse lawyers, Mark Geragos and Bryan Freedman, said Stowers was “subjected to racism, sexual harassment, and physical assault in her first season.” Stowers said when she reported the issues she was “warned in no uncertain terms to keep quiet and play nice.”
Her lawsuit stated, “Driven by concern for her career and fear about how she might otherwise be portrayed on air, Stowers reluctantly did so, only to discover that she had been nominally demoted to an unpaid “volunteer” without any actual change in her employment status.”
Stowers’ suit read, “Over time, her treatment got even worse. Many cast members embarked on an overtly racist social media harassment campaign, accusing her of having gone AWOL from the military [false], of being a thief [false], and being a career criminal wanted by the LAPD [false],” the suit read.
“NBC [ and producers], which tightly control the cast’s public statements and messaging, condoned, ratified and amplified these vicious lies, causing untold harm to Stower’s mental health and reputation. To make matters worse, NBC threatened her with ruinous legal action when she attempted to speak out.”
After her exit, Stowers accused cast members Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute of calling the police on her for a crime she didn’t commit. Schroeder, 35, and Doute, 41, were fired in 2020 but Doute was recently added to the case of a new show on Bravo named The Valley. Stowers’ lawyers said about the suit, “NBC and Evolution clearly believe that workplace safety rules, employment laws, and basic decency do not apply to those in reality TV. Vicious assaults, racist harassment, and impugning the service of veterans are apparently acceptable to NBC and Evolution for the sake of ratings. Faith did not know what kind of cesspool she had found herself in and reported this unlawful behavior to her superiors. In response, she was demoted to ‘volunteer’ and stripped of her already meager compensation.”
Now, in a newly filed motion, the producers explain Stowers “voluntarily” appeared on Vanderpump Rules. They said she entered into a participant agreement that clearly stated all disputes with producers would be heard in private arbitration and not in public court. Despite her express and repeated Agreements to submit her claims to binding arbitration plaintiff nevertheless filed her complaint in this Court. Not only do each of the Agreements require Stowers to arbitrate her claims, each delegates to the arbitrator, unambiguously, all determinations of arbitrability.”
In the motion, the producers did note they “vigorously dispute Stowers’ claims.” A judge has yet to rule.
On top of Stowers’ lawsuit, ex-cast member Rachel Leviss is suing cast member Tom Sandoval his ex-girlfriend Ariana Madix over alleged revenge porn. Sandoval, 41, and Madix, 38, have denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
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