The dynamic duo from Vanderpump Rules, who recently opened their first restaurant together in Los Angeles, have found themselves in hot water. Ariana Madix and Katie Maloney, owners of Something About Her, are being sued by Chef Penny Davidi due to their failure to pay for the work Penny contributed to the restaurant. Penny claims that Ariana and Katie reneged on their initial agreement when they hired her as their chef for the new restaurant. Ariana has been having a successful run lately in business ventures with her performance on Broadway as Roxie Hart, a successful run on Dancing With the Stars, and becoming the new host of the reality dating show, Love Island USA. However, this lawsuit places a damper on things, especially since it follows the announcement that her former boyfriend Tom Sandoval is suing her for illegally accessing sexual videos of Rachel Leviss from his phone, which is the incident that sparked Scandoval.
In court documents obtained by TMZ, Ariana and Katie hired Penny as their COO(Chief Operating Officer) and Director of Culinary. The documents detailed that back in June 2023, prior to opening the restaurant, Penny was promised 10% in partnership for playing a crucial part in developing the menu and operating the restaurant Something About Her. She worked hard alongside the pair to build up the restaurant in the months that followed. While there were disagreements leading to Ariana and Katie cutting ties with Penny, the situation has currently escalated to a lawsuit.
Ariana and Katie Have Bad Blood With Penny Davidi
Ariana and Katie were introduced to Penny by Lisa Vanderpump, who has had several restaurants shown on Bravo, such as Villa Blanca, Pump, TomTom, and Sur, where Katie worked as a server and Ariana as a bartender. One can only imagine that this lawsuit has Lisa caught in the middle. However, further details in the court documents state that Penny filed trademarks for Ariana and Katie’s business. It was agreed that Penny would be paid $7,500 a month ahead of the May opening of the restaurant and that this amount would increase to $10,000 at the start of January 2024.
However, court documents state that Ariana and Katie are denying the partnership with Penny, which is why she has requested that a judge uphold the agreement and grant her payment for what she is owed. Penny commented to The U.S. Sun about the restaurant, saying, “People wanted something spectacular. The sandwiches sound sexy, but unfortunately, looked underwhelming. The sandwiches are not my creations, but they definitely use some ingredients in each one that I introduced them to, like Boursin cheese. I can say 50% of the menu items are items I gave them, and they have changed some things.” Penny claims that Ariana and Katie abruptly cut off communication with her.