Building her own case? Scheana Shay could seek legal action against Raquel Leviss for their physical altercation that occurred in the aftermath of Scandoval.
“Scheana did push Raquel, but it was after Raquel grabbed her wrist. It was a reasonable force,” Shay’s attorney, Neama Rahmani, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, March 29. “It was necessary. I mean, look, Scheana is at best, maybe 5’5, [and] Raquel, [she’s] 5’10, she’s wearing heels. For Raquel to argue that Scheana could even punch her in the eye or cut her eyebrow, I mean, that’s just absolute inconsistent with the height differential and the size differential of these two women.”
He continued: “Scheana did push Raquel off, but there was no concussion. I mean everything — the brain injury — everything that Raquel said was a gross exaggeration of what happened. And importantly, it’s not a basis for a restraining order. This isn’t a reality TV show. This is real life. This is something for actual victims of violence, domestic violence, workplace violence, elder abuse, child abuse. It’s not because two friends had an argument outside of a New York bar. So it’s really was a gross abuse of our system of justice. Raquel filing the police report, getting those medical records, filing the petition. I mean, it really, there’s real victims that need help.”
The lawyer went on to explain that the “Good As Gold” songstress could pursue a lawsuit against the former beauty queen, 28, for defamation, malicious prosecution or abuse of process. While Rahmani says that Shay “doesn’t want anything to do with” Leviss at the moment, he did say he was going to remain by his client’s side and defend her as he has done so for the “past several weeks.”
Following the reality star’s Wednesday court appearance — where Shay and her attorney were the only ones present — the “Scheananigans” podcast host spoke out about the restraining order while in front of the judicial building.
“[Raquel] didn’t drop it, which is why we had to come here today. With this type of restraining order, there’s no way to dismiss the case. That’s why we had to show up,” Shay said at the time. “But I think her absence today further proves that this was all a PR stunt from the beginning to deflect from the affair, save face, you know, abuse the court system. There’s people out there who actually need this. There are real victims of domestic violence out there. There’s amazing organizations such as Futures Without Violence [and] LifeWire who helped people who really need this.”
Earlier this month, Leviss sought out a temporary restraining order against Shay after things got physical in the early hours of March 2 when the “Gold As Gold” singer learned that Leviss had an affair with Tom Sandoval.
“[Scheana] pushed me against [a] brick wall causing injury to [the] back of [my] head and punched me in the face causing injury to my left eye,” the former model alleged in the court filing, claiming she has a cut above her left eye and “blurred vision.”
Shay, for her part, denied the allegations made by Leviss.
“Scheana didn’t punch Rachel. Rachel didn’t get a black eye. Scheana pushed Rachel but only after Rachel grabbed her wrist, and Rachel did not suffer a concussion,” Rahmani told Us in a statement earlier on Wednesday.
Leviss, who did not attend Wednesday’s hearing, previously addressed plans to drop the order on Friday, March 24, one day after the costars were forced to film the season 10 reunion separately.
“I can confirm that my attorney took my case off the court calendar Wednesday and is filing the appropriate paperwork requested by the court today to dismiss the TRO from moving forward after the 29th,” Leviss told Us in a statement on Friday. “We let the court know I will not be moving forward with a permanent restraining order. My team tried to work with Scheana on a mutually beneficial agreement hoping to get the TRO dropped earlier so we could film together.”
