The popularity ofVanderpump Rulesis undeniable at this point. The series once centered around the employees at SUR restaurant, and continues to feature the other restaurantsowned byLisa Vanderpumpand her husbandKen Todd.The series has never been without controversy, but the drama tends to focus on the personal lives of the cast. For the last two seasons, the fallout from theglobal phenomenon known as Scandovalhas taken center stage and dominated the news cycle asAriana Madixmoved onfrom her cheating ex-boyfriend,Tom Sandoval.
However, behind the scenes, there has been consistent drama that has never been discussed on the series. Lisa and Ken have beenaccused on multiple occasions of violating the rights of their restaurant employees. In December 2019, a former employee initiateda class-action lawsuitfor violating California’s unfair competition law at their restaurants SUR, TomTom, PUMP, and Villa Blanca. In August 2020, a former PUMP employee sued the couple forfailure to pay overtime wages. More recently, unnamed bartenders from TomTom brought forwarda lawsuit in January 2024, alleging violations of California labor law, including late paychecks.
Stassi Schroeder Explains Why She Forgave Her ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Stars
Stassi reveals when then boyfriend Jax Taylor slept with Kristen Doute she had to “forgive” for the sake of the show.
Max Boyens Claims on Instagram That Ken Todd Owed Him Money
Max Boyenswas the bar manager at Lisa and Ken’s restaurant, TomTom, where Sandoval andTom SchwartzfromVanderpump Rulesown a small share. Max was featured on the series for one season, before he was terminated in June 2020, along withcostarsStassi Schroeder,Kristen Doute, andBrett Caprioni, over their history of problematic behaviors that caused controversy for the network.
Afterward, Max continued working at TomTom until May 2021, when he allegedly got into a heated argument with Lisa and Ken over wage issues. On August 08, 2025, Max answered questions from fans on Instagram Live,recorded and shared by the account @readsnreceipts, naming himself asone of the bartenders who took legal action against Ken to secure wages owed.
During the live stream, Max claimed that he had to get a lawyer involved to secure the $8,000 that was owed to him. He also stated that once he took legal action, Ken told him “I’m not paying you because you deserve it, I’m paying you out of good will.”
Fans asked him numerous questions about his time on the series and the rest of theVanderpump Rulescast. When asked if he knows the truth about what has been going on recently with Sandoval and hisnew girlfriend,Victoria Lee Robinson, in theirsocial media feudwith former cast memberBillie Lee,Max confirmed he knows the truth, sipping his water without revealing any details.
He also confirmed that he is not interested in datingVanderpump RulesstarKatie Maloneyafter their off-camera “hook up” became a story line in the most recent season. While most of the live stream was dedicated to these questions from his viewers about the cast, the golden nugget was theconfirmation of Lisa and Ken’s historical problems with paying staff what they are owed only after legal action has been taken.
Max also has a romantic history with co-starScheana Shay, andviewers learned this season that although their friends-with-benefits situation cooled very quickly, he still shares his location with Scheana. When viewers of the livestream wrote in to tell Max to stop sharing his location with his now-married ex-fling, Max brushed it off. He quickly responded by telling viewers he had no intention of turning off the shared location because he wanted someone to know his location in the event something happened to him. After the most recent season aired, everyone knows Scheana will be the first to check on the locations of her friends, as viewers saw when Scheana first discovered the fling between Katie and Max had occurred because she was peeping his location when he happened to be at Katie’s apartment.
After Scheana publicly outed Max and Katie’s liaison, Katie had some explaining to do with her friend and former cast mate,Dayna Kathan.Dayna also has a romantic history with Max, and their attempted relationship was featured when she and Max first joined the series. On an episode of their podcast,Disrespectfully, Dayna shared that she had no feelings about Katie hooking up with her toxic ex, but rather only felt disappointed that her friend had hooked up with someone who “treated her very poorly for years.” For his part, Max claimed on the livestream thathe has no idea what Dayna’s problem is with him, since they only casually dated for a short period years ago.
Vanderpump Rules
Best known as one of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Lisa Vanderpump opens the salacious kitchen doors of her exclusive Hollywood restaurant and lounge, SUR.
