Amid a string of allegations that Bravo has failed to keep its cast members safe, Page Six has learned that the network investigated claims that “Vanderpump Rules” star James Kennedy was violent with women — a year before his domestic violence arrest.
Sources tell Page Six that in the fall of 2023 a whistleblower — who is a production insider — alerted Evolution Media, the production company that makes the show for Bravo, to a laundry list of claims about Kennedy that had either been floating around behind the scenes of the show, been hinted at publicly, or even mentioned during tapings of the show.
Among them were claims — which have not been independently substantiated by Page Six — that he attacked more than one woman he’d had a sexual relationship with. According to documents seen by Page Six, Bravo hired an independent attorney to investigate the claims.
Sources told us that the whistleblower was horrified when Kennedy appeared at the network’s live fan convention, BravoCon, with the other cast members while the investigation was still under way. They were particularly sickened, we’re told, that the organizers had him sing a song “You Can Suddenly Become The Number One Guy In The Group,” (based on a running joke about the pecking order on the show), and even gave him a goofy award for “Colloquial Excellence.”
It’s unclear how the investigation panned out, because the network fired the show’s entire cast in one fell swoop last month. Kennedy was booked for misdemeanor domestic violence on December 10 for allegedly attacking girlfriend Ally Lewber.
The news comes after Bravo said that investigations into figurehead Andy Cohen has cleared him of wrongdoing in at least two matters — “Real Housewives of New York” star Leah McSweeney’s claim (which she made in a lawsuit) that Cohen and other producers intentionally pushed her to fall off the wagon, and “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Brandi Glanville’s claim that Cohen sexually harassed her by sending her a video in which he said he wanted her to watch him have sex. (Cohen denied wrongdoing in McSweeney’s case, and apologized for the “inappropriate” video in Glanville’s).
“Real Housewives of New Jersey’s” Caroline Manzo has also sued Bravo, claiming in her suit that the network allowed Glanville to sexually abuse her while filming. (Glanville denied sexually harassing Manzo).
Bravo didn’t get back to us. A rep for Kennedy didn’t get back to us.
