RoseAllDay

Lisa’s coddling of Sandoval never sat right with me. Honestly, she tolerated a lot out of just about everybody, which showed she put production above her employees and customers. TBH, James and Kristen’s relationship was TOXIC. I remember that fight they got into in the parking lot — at somebody’s wedding? Don’t recall. But I’m sure that wasn’t the first time they got physical. Katie was right to issue an ultimatum to Lisa about James. It was on Lisa as the owner/employer to create a safe workplace. But then James would always come back with his puppy dog eyes and beg for a “second chance”. And it was Sandoval who always made Katie the scapegoat. I really have no use for that man. I’d like to think that James will finally get his shit together, but fool me once…

How many times will he do this? Didn’t he say pretty much the same thing to Lisa?

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Good. But anyone want to lay odds on a “reconciliation”?

But if he really loved her, he wouldn’t be afraid to say it out loud. Lala was right. It was a simple question. Why should he really care what anyone else thought, unless he knew he wasn’t being honest in the first place? He knew he was in the wrong with Ariana. If things were that bad for that long, why go on with it? His shifty behavior at the reunion was a huge tell, as well as the way he acted right after Ariana found out (the scene at the house) as well as when he went to Rachel’s afterward. Lack of eye contact. He seemed stiff and self-conscious — and guilty. The smarmy asshole showed more genuine affection for Schwartz, TBH. Always did. Rachel provided him one service — she scratched his itch. Period, full stop. She was probably dumb and immature enough to think it was twue wuv. Any other reason he used to convince himself (and everybody else — done poorly, BTW) otherwise was a joke. For all the pontificating and holier-than-thou attitude he’s always pulled, Sandoval is nothing more than an opportunistic poseur who can’t even bullshit properly. I saw on Reddit a screenshot from his latest ex-squeeze saying that people were right, the tiger never changes his stripes, and he that “he loves the best friends, apparently.” So he’s done it again? Get help, Sandoval. You are almost halfway to 50 and you’re still acting like a damn teenager.

IIRC, because this is going back several years, I don’t think he was really committed to working a recovery program in the first place. It was only when he was forced to do so, either by Lisa firing him, or taking away his DJ gigs, or Rachel threatening to leave him, that he made an effort. But that’s not going to work for long if you don’t really want to do it. Him still taking drinks, his dad being a party buddy, were signs to me that he would probably never be sober. Combine that with his temper, no bueno. His rage texts to Rachel were probably made while he was drunk. Contrast him to Lala, who realizes she has to work at it everyday. I’ve known recovering alcoholics, and they’re open with the fact that all it takes is one drink and it’s over. I’m having a hard time feeling sympathetic anymore. Been fooled too many times, and for Ally to put him and his career before her own well-being is just sad.

https://www.tmz.com/2024/12/13/james-kennedy-ally-lewber-not-splitting-after-domestic-violence-arrest/ Story is a little thin on details, but my point in posting it is this is classic abused partner behavior. Many DV victims and their partners downplay it, the victim refuses to press charges, or winds up dropping them. It’s almost always a “misunderstanding.” Next she’ll probably say was her fault. James has shown who he is with almost every woman he’s been with, as well as with others. (Schwartz, Katie, etc.) He flies into rages. He’s dangerous, IMO, and I’d want my daughter to have nothing to do with him.

I just saw the story about James, and frankly, I’m not surprised. He’s always had an abusive streak to me. His texts to Rachel, when they were together, were disturbing, and his temper was always a problem. He really seemed to have settled down, but he never took his issues and the work he had to do to get over them seriously. He was enabled by just about everybody. Lala was more committed to her recovery. Throw the book at him, if need be. It’s long past time, and if Ally stays with him, she’s just as much of a fool. I’m pissed, because despite all his screw-ups, I came to like him. in the wise words of Tyra Banks on Top Model: “I was rooting for YOU! We were all rooting for YOU!” Get help, and get your life together, James. One day it will be too late.

Watching the Scandoval reunion. S&S came up. Neither Tom had any business opening anything restaurant related. Lisa explained how she helped them financially, and I wonder what she thinks now. Schwartz’s excuse was, “There was just too much going on. Too many design changes.” That is totally on Sandoval by being a know-it-all dumbass. They had knowledgable people who wanted to help them. Schwartz is, was, and always will be Sandoval’s stooge, so of course he followed like a puppy. There was too much attention deficit with both of them, really, that the place was doomed from the start. What infuriated me, though, was Andy bringing up that Sandoval’s mother gave him money from her retirement fund to start S&S. Sandoval waffled about whether he paid her back. If I were her, I’d be suing to get that money back. Maybe he has by now, but no benefit of the doubt from me. Sandoval disgusts me.

The shop is still open; four-star review overall on Yelp. Seems pricey to me, but that’s a food shop, I guess. Looks like Scheana, Schwartz, and Lala have moved over to The Valley, so it continues…Tried watching that and just didn’t care. Just not much into Bravo lately. I prefer the earlier seasons of these shows.

I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did, with how they approached the whole thing. They played at it. At least Katie and Ariana showed more work ethic. Still blows my mind that they never had a good, functioning website. That’s a must, especially in the food industry. People want to see menus if they’re not familiar with the place. Know I do.

Max and Brett got fired over the racist tweets. That’s kind of what happened to Stassi and Kristen, too — they filed a false police report against Faith, another of the waitstaff. I honestly didn’t mind Dayna, but she never fit into that group well. Never liked the assistant SUR manager, either, I forget her name, and I think she may have also been at TomTom? I thought she was abrasive.

I don’t think this will be successful. People are used to the cast that’s been around forever, and I’m afraid they’ll accept no substitutes. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of a single addition (outside of Rachel, ‘nuff said) in the later years who had any staying power. This is what happens when a show outgrows its premise, too. Were we still to believe these people were struggling in LA? Perhaps at first, but the restaurant angle was ridiculous after awhile. It should have been retooled when they started to move on and got older, or had their own plotlines outside of SUR. The way Bravo likes to beat dead horses, this didn’t surprise me.

Tom Tom was mainly Lisa’s baby, but she made a mistake by not insisting that they take more responsibility. I think the Toms doscovered that running any kind of bar/restaurant takes a lot of work. It’s about the hardest industry there is to succeed in, and I bet that goes triple in LA.

Since UniqBlue and I posted simultaneously, here is Sandoval’s Insta. Really, the only surprise here is that it lasted this long. I never saw a useful website and the Yelp reviews were mixed. As they both made clear, they never took this seriously. (That was proven with how they treated the opening of Tom Tom. If it had been me, I wouldn’t have gone off to Mexico right as a bar business in LA was opening up. Why would S & S be any different?)