Yahoo Lifestyle ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Star James Kennedy Arrested for Domestic Violence
“Vanderpump Rules” star James Kennedy — known for his volatility and quick temper, as well as his charm — was arrested for misdemeanor domestic violence Tuesday night in Burbank, Calif.
Burbank police confirmed to Variety that they were dispatched to a home in the area Tuesday night after getting a call about Kennedy, whose real name is James Kennedy Georgiou, getting into an argument with a woman: “On December 10, 2024, at about 11:30 pm, Burbank Police were dispatched to a residence regarding an argument between a man and a woman. The investigation determined it was a domestic incident, leading to Mr. Georgiou’s arrest.”
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“Mr. Georgiou was booked for misdemeanor domestic violence and later posted bail. Formal charges are pending review by the Burbank City Attorney’s office,” the spokesperson said. Kennedy was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence and released after posting a $20,000 bail. TMZ first broke the news of Kennedy’s arrest.
Kennedy and his live-in girlfriend Ally Lewber, who is not named, both attended a party hosted at “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Kathy Hilton’s home that same night.
Kennedy was a cast member on Bravo’s “Vanderpump Rules” dating back to Season 4, after appearing in guest and recurring roles in the second and third seasons. He began working as a busboy at Lisa Vanderpump’s restaurant SUR and is now a popular DJ. Over the course of “Vanderpump Rules,” Kennedy was known for his extremes (including with drinking), and at times would try to be “California sober,” meaning he would stop drinking and doing other drugs, but would smoke weed to help him not drink.
In the show’s ninth season, Kennedy got engaged on camera to his then-girlfriend Rachel Leviss, who would later become best known for her part in the cheating scandal among the cast that was termed the “Scandoval.” Kennedy and Leviss had a tumultuous relationship, and they broke up after Season 9 concluded. On Thursday, Leviss’ attorneys, Mark Geragos and Bryan Freedman, issued a statement, pointing the finger at Bravo, NBC and Evolution, the production company that makes “Vanderpump Rules.” In a lawsuit that’s making its way through the courts, Leviss is suing her former fellow castmates Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix, who were a couple until Madix discovered that Sandoval was cheating on her with Leviss.
“We are aware of James Kennedy’s recent arrest for domestic violence,” the statement reads. “This news is, unfortunately, not surprising. Rachel’s lawsuit describes, in significant detail, Mr. Kennedy’s long history of erratic, violent behavior and substance abuse. Just as troubling, however, is that NBC and Evolution (the Vanderpump Rules production company), who have known about Mr. Kennedy’s troubling behavior all along, have been engaged in a multi-year cover-up on his behalf. They, too, bear responsibility.”
Questions about Kennedy’s behavior toward his ex-girlfriend Kristen Doute — once a “Vanderpump Rules” star who’s now on “The Valley” — also spread throughout the Bravosphere earlier this year. Doute, viewers thought, had written about him without naming him in her 2020 book “He’s Making You Crazy: How to Get the Guy, Get Even, and Get Over It.” In the book, Doute wrote about a relationship she characterized as verbally abusive, writing: “And then it escalated. Broken furniture, shattered picture frames, doors slamming and holes punched in my wall. Once that line had been crossed, it was only a matter of time before he put his hands on me: shoving, pushing, and physical restraint.” On Thursday, on her Instagram Stories, Doute posted a screenshot of TMZ, and wrote “FINALLY.”
Additionally, Bravo stars Tamra Judge (of “The Real Housewives of Orange County”) and Teddi Mellencamp (formerly of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”) inserted themselves into this story, when on their “Two Ts in a Pod” podcast they alluded to a fight Kennedy and Lewber had in front of them in a limousine that got physical — though neither of them gave specifics about what they’d seen. When the vague incident went viral, Lewber then went onto “Vanderpump Rules” cast member’s Scheana Shay’s “Scheananigans“ podcast to deny anything serious had happened. She said that she and Kennedy had gotten into an argument, “but there was no physical assault — I was not bleeding.” She went on to say, “For the record, James has never physically hurt me or assaulted me. And we’re good. We’re happy.”
Kennedy is no longer an employee of Bravo, of course. There was a major “Vanderpump Rules” shake-up last month, when Bravo announced that the entire cast would be replaced and the reality show would be rebooted in Season 12. The show hit ratings highs with Season 10 in the wake of the “Scandoval,” but it couldn’t sustain the momentum with Season 11.
Production on the all-new Season 12 will begin next year. The revamped cast, made up of staffers at Vanderpump’s restaurants, will be revealed at a later date.
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