It is not unlike Tom Sandoval to say something outlandish and offensive considering he’s been doing it on TV for over a decade with Vanderpump Rules. Last year, when it was revealed that he had been cheating on his long-time girlfriend Ariana Madix with fellow co-star Rachel Leviss, some people thought he would change his tune, reevaluate his life and quietly fade into the background of the Bravoverse like many before him. But because he’s Tom Sandoval, he took the opportunity to be the most hated guy on TV and dug himself into a darker, deeper hole.
Sandoval was interviewed by The New York Times to reflect on the past year after he became the “most hated man in America,” and not just because of his stint on The Masked Singer. When asked why he thought the scandal “got so big,” he went off the rails more than usual. “I’m not a pop-culture historian really, but I witnessed the O.J. Simpson thing and George Floyd and all these big things, which is really weird to compare this to that, I think, but do you think in a weird way it’s a little bit the same?” he asked. The answer is no.
You’d think that one comment was a fluke? Not for this Worm With A Mustache. Elsewhere in the interview, Sandoval doubled down on comparing himself to other high-profile cases. “I feel like I got more hate than Danny Masterson, and he’s a convicted rapist,” he added.
The interviewer, Irina Aleksander, then added a note to give him the benefit of the doubt. “I think I knew what he meant. He was trying to express the oddity of becoming the symbolic center of a nationwide discussion and a major news story; what he communicated instead was something more honest, which is just how much the experience had made him lose perspective.” Sandoval was likely just commenting on the media frenzy surrounding him, but he should not have compared his situation to two very different circumstances.
After the interview, Aleksander wrote that “a Bravo publicist rang me late on a Friday. Some of what Sandoval had said had gotten back to Bravo, and everyone was concerned. What was it that he said about O.J. Simpson and George Floyd exactly?”
Unfortunately, this is not the first and will not be the last time Sandoval says or does something out of pocket. This is a man who got a piece of bacon tattooed on his butt for no reason. We have not seen the last of him.
Update: Sandoval has put out the following statement on his socials: “My intentions behind the comments I made in New York Times Magazine were to explain the level of national media attention my affair received. The comparison was inappropriate and ignorant. I’m incredibly sorry and embarrassed.”
(Via Variety)
