Tom Sandoval Claims Jax Taylor Is on a "Smear Campaign" Against Him
The Vanderpump Rules bartender opens up about all the wedding drama with his longtime friend.
Joyous occasions like weddings have a way of bringing people together. However, for longtime BFFs Jax Taylor and Tom Sandoval, the former's wedding seems to be tearing them apart.
Season 8 of Vanderpump Rules kicked off with some tension between Jax and Tom, which escalated after Tom confronted his friend about his response to his former pastor's controversial comments (clip above).
"You know, Jax being a friend of mine, I felt like I could come to him with some questions and concerns," Tom said during a recent interview with ET, noting that he wasn't the only one with "some feelings about it and questions." "When I pulled Jax aside for a question, which was just meant to be between me and him — just have that quick conversation and be done with — and then he gets up and, like, turns it into this whole thing."
He added, "It wasn't easy for me to ask Jax about that, especially knowing how reactive he can be. But I felt like it was very important to me to ask that question. To find out, to hear what he had to say, and it's unfortunate that I never got to hear it."
Jax and his then-wife-to-be, Brittany Cartwright, ended up replacing that pastor with Lance Bass as the officiant to their wedding instead. Jax made one more change to his wedding during this whole ordeal: not only removing Tom as one of his best men, leaving Tom Schwartz to serve as the sole best man, but also uninviting him from the big day entirely. "I did feel bad about it," Tom said. "I didn't want it to turn into that at all. I feel bad about that. That was like the last thing I wanted."
But Jax decided to welcome Tom back to his wedding party after receiving a lengthy, apologetic text from his friend of 20 years. During the wedding rehearsal in the March 3 episode of Vanderpump Rules, Tom served as a best man with pride, providing refreshments and literal shade with an umbrella in the hot Kentucky sun to Jax and the other groomsmen.
Still, Jax said that he now regrets having Tom be a part of his wedding during an interview with ET in January. "That was really heartbreaking to hear, and very hurtful," Tom said of Jax's comments to ET. "It feels a little bit like a smear campaign. Because, when it did come to the wedding, I went — I feel like I went above and beyond to prove my worth and I also enjoyed doing it."
Tom went on to say that he doesn't understand why Jax would regret having him there since they "had an amazing time."
"I felt like I added to the experience. That's the one thing, I really wanted to add to the experience," he explained. "Whether it was making his wedding a much easier time, more fun experience, less stressful. I felt like I did that. I felt like I accomplished that goal. We had a lot of fun … we were in a really great place."
Tom teased that there may be more drama on the way for Jax later on this season of Vanderpump Rules. "He gets very reactive toward the end of our season," he claimed. "And because of that, now he's trying to justify that, I feel like. So, that's why when I say a 'smear campaign,' he's trying to slowly, like, peck away at who I am as a person, like my integrity."
Right now, Tom admitted that he is "not a fan" of Jax, but he's remaining hopeful that they can one day get their friendship back on track. "It's really tough, it's really tough with him," Tom said.
During Jax's previous interview with ET, he claimed that some of Tom's behavior this season of Vanderpump Rules was "uncalled for."
"There's some things he did during this season that haven't played out yet that were just uncalled for, absolutely uncalled for — below the belt, should never, ever happen to a friend — and I made my decision that I did not want him there," Jax said. "I don't want to give it away but it's really uncalled for."
Vanderpump Rules producers said they haven't seen the SUR squad this divided in a long time as they spilled some behind-the-scenes secrets in an enhanced version of the February 25 episode that aired on March 3. "It was similar to when people were split after Jax and Stassi [Schroeder] broke up in Season 1," the producers said.
And producers were just as surprised as we were that Jax uninvited Tom from the wedding, although the guys' conversation was definitely one of the most heated they had ever seen. "They were both so upset and angry that they wouldn't even face each other," the producers said.
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