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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Rachel Leviss—not Tom Sandoval—is identified as the plaintiff in the lawsuit involving private FaceTime recordings. Ariana Madix appealed after a trial court denied her anti-SLAPP motion; on August 5, 2026, a California appeals court affirmed that denial. The ruling did not decide whether Madix is liable or whether Leviss will ultimately win.
Who sued whom?
Leviss filed the Los Angeles County Superior Court case, number 24STCV05072, against Sandoval and Madix on February 29, 2024. The complaint alleges claims including eavesdropping, violation of California Civil Code section 1708.85, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Those are allegations, not findings. The available court materials identify Leviss as plaintiff; they do not establish that Sandoval separately filed a cross-complaint.
The case grew out of allegations about sexually explicit FaceTime recordings. In its account of the procedural background, the appellate opinion says Sandoval’s phone came into Madix’s possession at a public event on March 1, 2023. It says Madix found recordings of Leviss and sent two to Leviss with a message. Madix declared that she did not send, share, or show the recordings to anyone else; Leviss alleged that Madix disseminated them to other people too. The appeal did not resolve that dispute.
The opinion describes Leviss’s position as being that Sandoval made the recordings without her knowledge or consent during private calls, and that she expected intimate communications made from a private residence to remain private. These details describe the allegations and procedural record, not facts established through a trial verdict.
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What did the appeals court decide?
Madix appealed the trial court’s denial of her special motion to strike under California’s anti-SLAPP statute, a procedure for challenging claims based on protected petitioning or speech. On August 5, 2026, the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Eight, affirmed the denial.
The majority concluded that Madix had not met the threshold burden of showing that the claims against her arose from constitutionally protected activity. As the court put it: “We conclude Madix was not entitled to relief under section 425.16 because she failed to meet her burden of establishing that the claims alleged against her arose from constitutionally protected activity.” The court’s disposition was: “The order denying Madix’s special motion to strike is affirmed.”
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The opinion focused on the claims as pleaded and the motion as presented: alleged unauthorized acquisition and dissemination of private sexual recordings, rather than public statements about the affair. It distinguished public interest in the scandal from the private sexual details shown in the recordings. The decision was certified for publication.
What the ruling does not decide
An anti-SLAPP ruling at this stage is not a trial verdict. The appellate court did not find Madix liable, determine damages, or establish that she shared the recordings with anyone other than Leviss. It expressly left open whether Leviss can prove broader distribution and whether she can prevail if Madix’s account—that Leviss was the only recipient—is accepted. The underlying claims have not been resolved by this appeal.
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What is known about the case timeline?
- February 29, 2024: Leviss filed the action against Sandoval and Madix, according to the appellate opinion.
- July 11, 2024: The Superior Court denied Madix’s anti-SLAPP motion. A minute order recorded a jury trial date of November 3, 2025, as scheduled at that time; that date is historical, not a current trial setting.
- August 5, 2026: The Court of Appeal affirmed the denial of Madix’s motion.
- August 7, 2026: A MyNewsLA report published before the appellate decision described a proposed modest continuance of a trial-setting conference while the appeal was pending, and said discovery had been stayed. It does not establish the schedule after the appeal.
- August 14, 2026: The appellate court modified a year in the dissent and stated that the modification did not change the judgment.
Is the lawsuit still going?
The appellate decision establishes that the anti-SLAPP denial stands, but the available materials do not establish the case’s subsequent Superior Court schedule or whether it has since settled, been dismissed, or proceeded toward trial. The most recent case-status report cited here predates the August 5 appellate ruling, so it cannot answer what happened after the appeal.
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Primary documents and reporting
- California Court of Appeal opinion, Leviss v. Madix, filed August 5, 2026
- Filed complaint, hosted by Courthouse News
- Los Angeles Superior Court minute order, July 11, 2024
- MyNewsLA case-status report, August 7, 2026
- Appellate opinion modification order, August 14, 2026
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