Entertainment
Lala Kent Claims Katie Maloney Friendship Is Over After VPR Feud
Lala Kent just shut any hope Vanderpump Rules fans had about her rekindling her friendship with Katie Maloney.
During the Wednesday, August 21, episode of her “Give Them Lala” podcast, Lala, 33, reflected on the close bond she had with Katie in the past.
“They all have a really special place in my heart. I had a really fun time with Ariana [Madix] when I first was on the show. Katie, my friendship with her [during] season 10, I thought that that friendship was really on point,” she noted. “When I think back, I’m like, ‘Wow, even though it was a hard time in my life, that friendship really got me through a tough time in my life.’”
Lala is still “very fond” of Katie and other costars she’s fallen out with over the years.
“I had really fun times with Kristen Doute. I’ve had fun times where it was me and the Witches of WeHo,” she continued, referring to Katie, 37, Kristen, 41, and former costar Stassi Schroeder. “There were so many fun times that if I could go back and relive those moments, I totally would.”
The dynamic has since shifted, however, after Bravo viewers saw Lala and Katie at odds throughout the last season of the reality series.
“Katie and I were very close. I don’t think now we have anything in common and that’s OK,” Lala claimed. “I don’t even know what we would talk about 1724314059. We’re just in such different places and I think that friendship was meant to be the way it was for the time being.”
Lala argued that her connection with Katie “ran its course,” adding, “I think that that’s totally OK. I have nothing but fond memories of that friendship. I have nothing but fond memories of the friendship I had with Ariana and Doute. But people change and move on.”
Despite the tension between herself and Katie, Lala isn’t worried that the divide will escalate.
“There’s not a lot to talk about anymore — and we’re just in different stages of life,” she concluded. “So no matter why we fell off, I don’t really give a s—t. What I do know is the time that we had together, I really enjoyed. And I wish them all the best.”
Lala and Katie were in a good place when filming kicked off on season 11 — or so fans thought. When Lala questioned Ariana’s decision not to film with ex Tom Sandoval after his cheating scandal with Rachel “Raquel” Leviss, she also put Katie on blast.
“I think we were at odds because from my point of view, she was not very honest this season. I don’t recognize that Katie [because] the reason why she and I really freaking connect is because we are no bulls—t,” Lala explained on a May episode of the Vanderpump Rules After Show. “You may not like what comes out of our mouths, it may be harsh or aggressive, but this is what it is.”
Lala even quoted what Katie allegedly told her about her issues with Ariana, 39.
“She was getting annoyed like, ‘I’m the only one doing things for this sandwich show. Where is she? She’s always late on her half of the rent. She’s dropping the ball,’” Lala claimed. “She was very worried about rocking the boat after she invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into this restaurant and her business partner is Ariana. I can’t say I wouldn’t feel the same way. I probably would. She had opinions. You can have opinions and still have Ariana’s back.”
At the season 11 reunion, Katie argued that she worked out her issues with Ariana before cameras were picked back up. She slammed Lala’s attempt to resurface the drama when they had already mended their miscommunication off screen.
“I felt like obviously she had been harboring certain feelings and thinking certain things that I didn’t know she had felt. And so she was saving them for the reunion, which I didn’t feel like was super authentic,” Katie said on the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast in July. “To sit there and be called an inauthentic person or fake. But meanwhile, I’m sitting next to somebody who I thought I knew and knew very well and was open and honest with me but had been feeling a certain way about me for a very long time. That was shocking.”
Katie admitted that she didn’t see how she and Lala could move on from their feud.
“Once you violate my trust like that, it’s very hard to come back from. Trust is the most important thing to me. And when you try to manipulate me with that and use it against me and say we talked about these things,” Katie continued. “Those weren’t the kind of conversations that were meant for the camera. Not everything is. … I’m allowed to have some kind of privacy and talk about emotions with people. I do with my mom, I do with other friends.”
Vanderpump Rules season 11 is currently streaming on Peacock.