Tom Sandoval Breaks His Silence on ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Firings

Tom Sandoval has broken his silence on the firings of Vanderpump Rules co-stars Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni, with whom Bravo severed ties earlier this month following resurfaced racist actions and comments.

Sandoval, who has been a part of Vanderpump Rules since its debut in 2013, told St. Louis’ News 4 of the firings while visiting his hometown to help local bars and restaurants, “It’s crazy. It definitely changes things and honestly, we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens.”

Bravo announced on June 9 that Sandoval’s fellow original cast members, Schroeder and Doute, would not be welcomed back to the show after former SURver Faith Stowers, one of the only Black women to be featured on the show, recalled on an Instagram Live when the two women had called the police on her unjustly.

“There was this article on Daily Mail where there was an African American lady,” Stowers said at the time. “It was a weird photo, so she looked very light-skinned and had these different, weird tattoos. They showcased her, and I guess this woman was robbing people. And they called the cops and said it was me. This is like, a true story. I heard this from actually Stassi during an interview.”

Schroeder confessed to calling the police on Stowers during a 2018 appearance on the Bitch Bible podcast. Doute also tweeted a link to the article at the time with the note, “Hey tweeties, doesn’t this ex #pumprules thief look familiar? someone put her on mtv & gave her a platform for press. I didn’t wanna go there, but I’m going there.”

Both women apologized after their actions resurfaced in light of the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests, with Schroeder saying she had “grown significantly” since that time and was “filled with remorse and regret” for the hurt she caused. She added that what she had done two years prior was “wrong,” and that she would continue to “look closer at myself and my actions — to take the time to listen, to learn, and to take accountability for my own privilege.”

Doute, meanwhile, wrote she had been “taking some time to really process what I’ve been seeing, feeling and learning” amid the recent protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. Adding that her actions were “not racially driven,” Doute said she is now “completely aware of how my privilege blinded me from the reality of law enforcement’s treatment of the black community, and how dangerous my actions could have been to her. It was never my intention to add to the injustice and imbalance.” She concluded with a promise to “do better,” adding she was “ashamed, embarrassed, and incredibly sorry.”