Tom Schwartz Says Jo Wenberg's "Dangerous Accusations" Led to Their Fallout
Tom explained why he started pulling away from Jo shortly after he started filming Vanderpump Rules Season 11.
Tom Schwartz insists he has no hard feelings toward Jo Wenberg. He just wants her out of his life “forever.”
The Vanderpump Rules cast member addressed the fractured relationship during the May 24 episode of When Reality Hits with The Valley’s Brittany Cartwright. Tom said he was initially tight-lipped about the situation, but felt it was necessary to share his side of the story and why he ultimately cut ties with his former friend/fling.
“It was a lot of things,” he said about his decision to pull away from Jo. “I’m not gonna divulge most of those things. One of the biggest things is that I found out... in my experience, she’s a compulsive liar, OK?”
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Tom Schwartz claims Jo Wenberg went too far when she lied to his family
Tom accused Jo of creating lies that ranged from “benign” and “nonsensical” to “malicious” and “manipulative.”
“Jo is not a bad person… but some of the things I found out she told my family behind my back, really f-cking pissed me off,” he said. “My mom told me, my sister told me, my brother told me… They were really dangerous accusations.”
Tom didn’t provide details on the allegations, but said it was just one of many confirmed lies Jo had created. Although he admitted to having feelings for the hairstylist at one point, Tom claimed the “infatuation” waned once he started noticing her lying habit.
Tom Schwartz reveals when he started pulling away from Jo Wenberg
“Sometimes you really dig somebody and the feelings go away,” he continued. “We hung out so much… It was so fun but we were never in any conventional, exclusive relationship. We were coasting in a pretty nice direction, I think, until maybe at the beginning of filming (Vanderpump Rules Season 11). And that’s where, I don’t know, maybe I started to notice some erratic behavior.”
Tom confessed he had turned a blind eye to the “red flags” and hoped he and Jo could remain good friends. However, he decided to distance himself once the alleged lies became more frequent.
“I feel like she’s sacrificed any chance she has for legitimacy or credibility,” Tom told Brittany. “I think she’s hurt. I pulled away from her because there’s too many lies. Trust me, I have a list of a minimum of 20 — 20 substantiated, confirmed lies.”
Tom Schwartz says Jo Wenberg "is building a following at [his] expense"
So why is the Schwartz and Sandy’s owner speaking out now? Well, he said he needed to defend himself against the online “narrative” Jo was creating, as she was leading people to believe she was a “victim” who Tom "led on."
“I’ve tried not to touch this. I’ve taken the high road. I am Mr. Rise Above, you know?” he said. “I don’t go looking for negative stuff online but people inevitably send you stuff. I’m seeing Jo talking shit about me, like random clips. I’ve tried not to respond, like, just ignore it; like [her] saying I’m her ‘soulmate,’ reading my texts on a live stream, and I feel like I just have to address this.”
Tom continued: “Clearly, she’s acting out. Her feelings are hurt, OK? I don’t want to invalidate her feelings but, also, I have feelings and they’re valid, too. I just want to shine a light on my point of view and why I pulled away from her, OK? Because I feel like she’s using social media to create this sort of, I don’t know, ‘Poor me, I got played, breadcrumbing’ narrative. But she’s building a following at my expense and I’m getting tired of it.”
Tom Schwartz on his future with Jo Wenberg: "She's cut from my life forever"
Tom confirmed he had blocked Jo on social media and from his contacts, but he couldn’t escape the negativity. Earlier this month, Jo made headlines after she dismissed Tom’s new relationship with Sophia Skoro, saying she knew "for a fact" that Tom was “dating a fan.” Jo returned to Instagram about a week later and read some strongly worded text messages from Tom, who was clearly upset over the Sophia diss. The Vanderpump Rules cast member said the latter move felt like a “violation.”
“This will be the last time I talk about it, hopefully," Tom said. "It’s just really frustrating to see her play the role of a victim... People need to respect the reasons I pulled away from her. They’re very f-cking valid. Anybody in my situation would’ve done the same thing… The stuff with my family, I can never look at her the same way. She’s cut from my life forever.”
