Tom Schwartz is pushing back after a tabloid ran a paparazzi photo that painted him as “unrecognizable” and downcast.
Tabloid image and the Daily Mail account
The Vanderpump Rules alum reacted to a paparazzi shot published with the headline, “Tom Schwartz is unrecognizable as he surfaces downcast at 43.” The July 22 article described the image by noting, “His trademark breezy ebullience seemed nowhere in evidence,” and reported that his and Tom Sandoval‘s Hollywood bar Schwartz & Sandy’s had closed while the L.A. sandwich shop owned by Schwartz’s ex-wife Katie Maloney “remains open.”
Schwartz responds on social media
Schwartz didn’t take the portrayal quietly. On his Instagram Story July 23, alongside a screenshot of the story, he joked, “You better sleep with one eye open @DailyMail,” alongside a sobbing emoji.
His girlfriend Kiana Carroll also defended him publicly, sharing a Boomerang video of Schwartz by a pool with the caption, “It was a bad angle guys.”
Where things stand with Sandoval
Though Schwartz’s friendship with Sandoval, 43, hit a rough patch during the final days of Schwartz & Sandy’s — which followed the infamous Scandoval cheating controversy and a complete VPR cast overhaul — the situation is described as water under the bridge for the Valley star.
