The No. 1 guy in the group. James Kennedy didn’t hold back after Raquel Leviss had an “un-engagement party” celebrating her split from the DJ.
“Drinking every night and sucking on penis straws … looks like I am the one who truly ‘dodged the bullet’ … and let’s not get it twisted it’s always MY year,” Kennedy, 30, appeared to write in a comment that he has since deleted from a Vanderpump Rules fan page post on Wednesday, January 26.
The Instagram post praised Leviss, 27, for having a party in honor of her single status. That same day, the former beauty pageant queen clapped back after followers questioned her decision to celebrate her breakup while watching the season 9 reunion special.
“There’s no way in hell I’m going to watch this emotional reunion without my closest friends,” Leviss wrote on Tuesday, January 25, referring to her costars Ariana Madix and Scheana Shay. “And after seeing how quickly James has moved on, I think I’m allowed the freedom to act on whatever my heart desires. I’m no longer taking into account other people’s concerns before my own. Those days are dead and gone. Hello 2022.”
The California native also shared photos from the get-together, which included her enjoying wine out of straws in a phallic shape. Kennedy previously raised eyebrows after he told his then-fiancée that she couldn’t celebrate with the novelty items at her bachelorette party.
“Definitely no strippers,” the U.K. native told Leviss in a December 2021 episode of the Bravo hit series. “I just don’t want it to be, like, a trashy bachelorette party.”
At the time, Leviss explained to her sister that Kennedy tells her what to do about “certain things” in her life, noting, “I don’t want him to get in the habit of being controlling. Like, that is just not cool with me. He seems to think that he knows what’s best for me at all times.”
Later that episode, Kennedy clarified to his costar Tom Sandoval that his comments had been blown out of proportion.
“I am not controlling. I’ve been controlling in the past with past girlfriends, right? But I am not a controlling person, fiancé [or] boyfriend to Raquel,” he said after Sandoval, 38, and Brock Davies shared their concerns about his behavior.
Kennedy and Leviss shocked their Vanderpump Rules cast members when they announced their decision to part ways during the reunion.
“We have decided to break off the engagement. It’s been something that I have been thinking about for a while, and I think that James has noticed that my heart hasn’t been fully in it,” the SUR waitress emotionally explained in the first part of the special on Tuesday. “I didn’t want to give up on him because he really has shown me how dedicated he is to me and the things that he is willing to do to better himself. But I feel like it is something deep within. I have been having nightmares about our wedding day, and I think that’s a telltale sign that something is wrong.”
Kennedy revealed that the pair tried to make their romance work for quite some time.
“This is not a product of me f–king up my life, Tom. This is a product of the truth. The second she said, ‘We are not soulmates.’ For me, that was a f–king enlightenment. I realized that we loved each other but we are not in love with each other anymore. She has made her decision. Her parents have always hated me. It has never been easy,” he detailed. “Even becoming the man that quit drinking and changed his whole f–king lifestyle for this relationship [wasn’t enough]. It wasn’t enough. I still have these anger issues, and I am never doing this again.”
The former SUR busser found it “embarrassing” to have to share the news after their elaborate engagement on the show, adding, “We went through a lot and we did it big. I love you guys too. And you know how f–king scared I was to say anything.”
Ahead of the reunion, Kennedy made headlines when he posted a video which showed him holding hands with a mystery woman. A source exclusively told Us Weekly that Kennedy was “not dating” anyone since ending his engagement.
“He went to Vegas for his birthday with a group of six friends,” the insider said about the social media content. “He’s been down about the breakup and has been busy working, so he really wanted a fun trip to Vegas.”
