Lala Kent Gizelle Hernandez/Bravo
Lala Kent hasn’t shied away from telling some of her Vanderpump Rules costars how they really make her feel.
Kent joined the cast of the Bravo series during season 4 as a guest star. She was bumped up to the main cast in season 6, cementing herself as a staple in the franchise.
While Kent has grown closer with her costars over the years, she’s also butted heads with them. Throughout her time on the series, she’s had her fair share of ups and downs with Kristen Doute, Ariana Madix, Katie Maloney and more.
From miscommunication snafus to throwing subtle shade relive Kent’s biggest VPR feuds over the years:
Katie Maloney
Kent didn’t get off to a good start with Maloney when the actress first started working at SUR. According to Kent, she felt like she was getting judged by Maloney and some of the others when she wanted to join their friend group. However, the duo put their differences aside and a friendship blossomed.
However, the pair’s friendship took a turn for the worse. The rift stemmed from when Maloney shared on a January 2023 episode of her “You’re Gonna Love Me” podcast that the “vibes” were “off” between her and Kent ahead of filming season 10. Kent subsequently responded to Maloney’s declaration on her “Give the Lala” podcast.
“So many people asked about [Katie],” she said at the time. “So of course, I was like, ‘Why are people asking this?’ Well, now I know that someone asked Katie this on her podcast, and she said, ‘The vibes are definitely off.’ So I guess the vibes are definitely off.”
Kent revealed that she and Maloney had a heated exchange via DMs after Kent forgot to wish her castmate a happy birthday.
“I got a lot going on. That is the least of my concern. And I hope she had a very happy birthday. It slipped my mind that it was her birthday because it was MLK Day,” she reflected. “I completely spaced it. You know, with MLK Day happening and I had [my daughter] Ocean and she was feeling sick. So there’s that.”
While Kent and Maloney’s friendship seemed strong in season 10, the pair seemingly didn’t work out their differences following the miscommunication. Kent shared in March 2024 that they had an off-screen falling out before they filmed the reunion special, which focused primarily on Maddix and ex Tom Sandoval’s breakup following his affair with Raquel Leviss. So when the duo returned for season 11, Kent confessed she and Maloney couldn’t get their relationship back on track.
“There was just never [a] resolution,” Kent explained on a March episode of her podcast. “It was one thing after the other that we just could not quite conquer and see eye to eye. As the season goes on though, you’ll see that we soften up with each other.”
Raquel Leviss
Leviss and Kent were at odds on VPR long before the days of Scandoval. The women first butted heads in 2016 when Leviss joined the series as a guest star and began dating Kent’s pal James Kennedy. Leviss questioned her boyfriend’s closeness with Kent. However, Kent was adamant that her and Kennedy’s bond was strictly platonic. (Kent revealed in February 2023 that she and Kennedy did hook up at one point.)
Kent also questioned if the twosome would be in it for the long haul as rumors swirled that Kennedy was unfaithful.
“It takes a tough bitch to deal with James, and I don’t know that she’s the toughest person,” Kent said in 2018.
In 2019, Kent attempted to discuss Kennedy’s cheating allegations with Leviss and the discussion turned into a fight at SUR.
“I don’t know that I feel badly for her anymore because it’s like seeing the murder scene and still needing more evidence,” Kent exclusively told Us about Leviss at the time. “It’s like, ‘OK, girl, I can’t even deal.’ Like, you’re killing my brain cells at this point, and I don’t have a lot of those to lose.”
The following year, Kent decided to try to make amends with Leviss and apologized but they didn’t resolve their issues. However, the women settled their differences after Kennedy and Leviss called it quits in December 2021.
Despite getting on good terms, Leviss and Kent’s dynamic changed in 2023. Kent disagreed with Leviss for kissing Maloney’s ex-husband, Tom Schwartz, and Leviss called her out for it.
“Really, Lala? You’re going to sit there and judge me for hypothetically making out with Tom Schwartz, yet you slept with my boyfriend while we were together? You’re such a hypocrite,” Leviss said in a confessional about the drama.
Later that year, Leviss and Kent’s feud escalated after news broke of Leviss’ affair with Sandoval.
“[Her dating history] feels very climb-y. There’s plenty of dudes to make out with. You gotta get out of the group,” Kent said on an April 2023 episode of her “Give Them Lala” podcast. “For it to be your best friend’s dude it’s just yucky. For her to make a comeback, the group’s never gonna forget. That’s some low-down, dirty stuff.”
As Leviss and Kent continued to go back and forth, Kent defended her feelings towards Leviss amid the drama.
“Where I felt for Raquel was, when you’re filming a reality show, in my mind, every single person is mentally equipped to handle whatever is going to come out of my mouth,” she said during a June 2023 episode of her “Give Them Lala” podcast. “The second you throw someone in there that cannot handle it, you’re making it so I can’t go and do my job.”
During the Vanderpump Rules season 11 premiere, Kent attempted to get in contact with Leviss following their fallout. However, after learning about the model’s tell-all interview with Bethenny Frankel, Kent admitted to Us that she regretted the decision.
“I would not have reached out to her had I known that the Bethenny Frankel podcast was going to happen. I thought that this girl was just wanting to go and live in a small town, work in a cubicle and just fade into the background,” she told Us in January 2024. “I thought, ‘You know what? If that’s the life she wants, I want her to know that things happen and I hope that you can live peacefully and not wear this. Then the podcast came out with Bethenny [Frankel], and I was like, ‘I’m very grateful that you did not respond.’”
Kristen Doute
Kent and Doute were always friendly while they worked together before Doute’s firing in 2020. While the pair seemed like they were on good terms, rumors swirled in 2024 that Kent and Doute were feuding.
The women’s feud stemmed when Doute attended a live taping of the “No Filter with Zack Peter” podcast with Golnesa “GG” Gharachedaghi. Gharachedaghi shaded Kent while Doute was sitting next to her. Doute didn’t defend her former costar and Kent took that personally. She claimed she didn’t know Doute during a January 2024 Amazon Live, hinting there was bad blood between them. However, Doute decided to clear the air about why she didn’t fight back for Kent.
“I didn’t feel like it was my fight to fight because I thought it was so mundane and so stupid. Who cares what this chick has to say?” Doute said on her “Sex, Love and What Else Matters” podcast in January 2024. “Lala is an insanely wonderful mother. She’s a great mom. She’s always put Ocean first. She’s been through hell and high water with everything Randall has put her through [with their custody battle] which I’m sure you guys are all aware of if you listen to ‘Give Them Lala.’ So I was a little stung and a little hurt.”
Doute also confessed that how Kent handled the drama rubbed her the wrong way.
“Lala, you know I love you. I think you handled this like s–t. I’m not happy about the way you’re f–king talking about me or my podcast because it’s just so petty. However, you weren’t there to fight in the room for yourself, I should have said something,” she added. “I understand why your feelings were hurt. Next time just come to me and say, ‘My feelings were hurt.’ Don’t blast it on the internet that you don’t know who I am. Calm down.”
Later that month, Kent made it clear that she did not care about Doute’s comments or their former friendship.
“I actually thought her podcast was very profound. She said, ‘If Lala cared about the friendship, she would have reached out to me,’” Kent recalled during a January appearance on Watch What Happens Live. “And if I cared about the friendship, I would have reached out to her and I didn’t.”
Ariana Madix
Kent stood by Madix’s side throughout the aftermath of her breakup from Sandoval at the tail end of season 10. Throughout season 11, Madix admitted she wanted to cut ties with anyone who remained friendly with her ex.
While Kent has been an avid supporter of Madix throughout the breakup, she also continued to film and interact with Sandoval for the series and defend him at some points. Rumors swirled that Madix and Kent got into it during the taping of the season 11 reunion special. In March 2024, Kent addressed the rumors and teased there was drama.
“I think the exact [fan] tweet was ‘Ariana eviscerated Lala at the reunion and it was friendship ruining.’ And only one of those things is true,” Kent said during an episode of The Talk at the time. “I’ll let you all decide.”
During a March 2024 appearance on Jeff Lewis’ podcast, Kent expressed why she thought Madix was losing friends post-Scandoval.
“I think it’s really important for people to know that she did not have much time to process before we went into filming,” she said. “I think that’s where she’s maybe losing a couple of people in the group. You’re talking about how unsafe you feel, yet you live in the same home as him. That’s also what was kind of losing me all season.”
