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It’s a tough time for the Vanderpump Rules kids. Many of them didn’t make it past last season. Bravo did a sweeping round of cuts that left most of the cast without a place on the show. Now, two of the last cast members standing, Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval are in hot water as well. The two are being sued over their cocktail book, Fancy AF Cocktails.

Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix
Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix | Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images

Why are Tom and Ariana being sued?

If you’ve watched Vanderpump Rules, then you know that this book has been a long time in the making. For a while, it was all Madix talked about. At first, the book was going to be a solo venture for Madix but later her boyfriend Sandoval joined in. Now, writer Alison Baker is claiming that she had a hand in the book as well.

According to court documents, obtained by Us Weekly, Baker says she met Madix through a mutual friend in 2016. At the time, the two began talking about co-writing a cocktail book. Baker alleged that in March of that year, she and Madix made things official and entered an agreement for services. Madix was to pay Baker a fee of $3,000 and 45 percent of the advance when the book concept was accepted by a publisher. She would also earn 45 percent of  “actual earned royalties on sales of such book in perpetuity.” She was also supposed to be named as a cowriter.

Baker says that in 2017, Sandoval joined the agreement and told Madix that they should write a separate book. Baker claims that she then created a new agreement, including Sandoval. Under this new agreement, the three of them were to  “share any revenue from this separate endeavor in equal thirds.”

Baker alleges that after that agreement was created, the couple told her they were not “prepared to contribute the level of work necessary to complete the task of successfully writing and self-publishing a book.”

Though that was the end of their work together, Madix and Sandoval did go forth and publish Fancy AF Cocktails: Drink Recipes from a Couple of Professional Drinkers. Baker is now alleging that their product “incorporates many of the proprietary rights” that she and Madix came up with for the book concept. 

What does Alison Baker want from Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval?

Baker is suing for “all monies and benefits received or to be received for the sales of the ‘infringing book.’” In addition, she is asking for damages and her attorney fees to be paid.

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Is ‘Vanderpump Rules’ coming back?

Several castmembers have been fired from the show. Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute were fired for a racially charged incident from their past, along with Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni. Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright are no longer employed by Vanderpump Rules, either. Lala Kent, who is pregnant with her first child, has said that she is unsure whether she will return to the show or not. With half of the cast down and Madix and Sandoval embroiled in this legal battle, things aren’t looking too good for the future of Vanderpump Rules.

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