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Ok, so what is this Katie Maloney, Tom Sandoval ‘murderer’ beef actually about?!

Shots were very randomly fired

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ByHelen Williams

24th December 2025, 14:06

Winter may be for cosy vibes, but Vanderpump Rules alums Katie Maloney and Tom Sandoval apparently didn’t get the memo.

A resurfaced clip from one of Sandoval’s live appearances has people side-eyeing him hard, and Katie’s response quickly turned into its own mini comment-section moment.

The gist? A game meant to be cheeky took a left turn into “wait… why would you say that?” territory, and Katie did what Katie does best.

She didn’t over-explain, didn’t over-perform, just hit back with a line that instantly travelled across the Bravosphere, and sent shockwaves in its path.

Tom fired shots at Katie

Here’s how the ‘murder’ part entered the chat. During a live Q&A at a show in Pittsburgh, Sandoval was asked to play a round of ‘F*ck, Marry, Kill’ with three very Bravo-coded options: Katie Maloney, Lisa Vanderpump, and Lala Kent.

Instead of keeping it light, Sandoval launched into a weird riff about true-crime tropes, specifically the way murder victims on ID Discovery are often described as having a smile that “lights up the room.”

Then he contrasted that with Katie, saying she’s “the opposite,” doesn’t “light up the room,” and (yes, he said it) she’s in “no danger of being murdered.”

After that little monologue, he made his picks: “marry” Lisa Vanderpump, “f**k” Lala Kent, and “murder” Katie.

If you’re wondering why this hit a nerve… Katie and Sandoval have years of bad blood baked in.

Sandoval was Tom Schwartz’s best friend and business partner during Katie’s marriage, and Katie has openly blamed Sandoval’s influence for contributing to their relationship issues in the first place.

So when he drags her in public, especially with a true-crime joke, folks weren’t exactly in a forgiving mood.

She clapped back online

Katie didn’t respond with a paragraph. She responded the way Katie does best.

Once footage of the moment circulated on Instagram, she commented: “Lol well he has the characteristics of a murderer.”

She also dropped a reaction meme of herself from a Vanderpump Rules reunion saying: “Choke. I don’t care.” Which is honestly the most on-brand punctuation mark she could’ve used.

Then Sandoval popped into the comments to clap back at her clap back, telling Katie it was “rich” coming from someone who “celebrated the murder of a father and husband,” and adding that he’s glad he doesn’t have to be around her “miserable energy” anymore.

That accusation appears to be referencing earlier backlash Katie faced over a post she made after political activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated in September 2025, backlash that led her to clarify she was not celebrating his death and didn’t believe he deserved to be killed.

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