Heavy/Peacock Cast of "Vanderpump Rules" season 8.
Former “Vanderpump Rules” star Max Boyens shared new details on why he stopped working for Lisa Vanderpump several years ago.
In an impromptu fan Q&A reshared by Instagram fan account @readsnreceipts, the former Bravo star was asked why he left “Vanderpump Rules.”
Boyens instead explained that he left TomTom, the bar Vanderpump partnered in with Tom Sandoval and Tom Schwartz, because Vanderpump’s husband Ken Todd allegedly refused to pay him.
“I left the bar because I didn’t like working there anymore,” Boyens said. “Because Ken owed me money. He owed me about $8,000 and he didn’t pay me. And I had to get a lawyer involved and then he paid me. And you know what he said? He said ‘I’m not paying you because you deserve it. I’m paying you out of goodwill.’”
Boyens added that it’s all “fine” and that the incident took place “years ago.”
Heavy has reached out to Vanderpump for comment.
Max Boyens Quit Tom Tom in May 2021
BravoMax Boyens.
Max Boyens was the bar manager at TomTom when fans first met him on the 8th season of “Vanderpump Rules.” But his time on the Bravo reality show was short-lived. In June 2020, Boyens was fired from the show along with Brett Caprioni, Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute, after his past racist tweets resurfaced, according to Us Weekly.
Boyens continued to work at TomTom. Vanderpump even defended him during the season 8 reunion. She accepted his apology for his past mistakes that took place when he was a teenager.
“I have never seen any inkling of anything that would make me believe that that’s the beliefs they’re holding now,” Vanderpump said of Boyens and Caprioni, per People magazine. “And if I had, they wouldn’t be working for me.”
But in May 2021, The Sun reported that Boyens quit his job at TomTom. At the time, the outlet alleged that Boyens got into a “heated disagreement” with Vanderpump and Todd.
“They wouldn’t give him health insurance or the salary he wanted. Lisa doesn’t provide any staffers with healthcare,” an insider alleged. “After years and years of hard work, he had enough when they still wouldn’t even value him enough for health insurance.”
Max Boyens Claimed He Was Barely Paid to Appear on ‘Vanderpump Rules’
GettyVanderpump Rules cast members Brett Caprioni, Dayna Kathan, Tom Sandoval, Lala Kent, James Mae, Co-Founder Kristen Doute, Max Boyens, Ariana Madix, Tom Schwartz, Scheana Shay, Brittanny Cartwright and Jax Taylor.
Boyens also claimed he does not make a lot of money when he as a cast member on “Vanderpump Rules.” He spoke out about his pay during a 2023 podcast interview.
“They paid me little to nothing. As a new cast member, you don’t make episodic pay,” he told the “Up and Adam” podcast in 2023. “You don’t get paid per episode. It is just a flat rate. It is not a lot at all, it just gets you by.”
Boyens claimed, “It was $4,000 [or] something … and they also pay it to you in increments.”
The former TomTom manger also noted that he spent a lot of his own money to be on the Bravo reality show.
“It was tough because I was spending a lot of money,” he said. “I had to buy a lot of clothes because I don’t want to be wearing the same [expletive] clothes every episode. I am blowing all this money on new clothes, I have to fly to places with [the cast], and I am spending money when it is my turn to buy drinks for everybody.”
Boyens was not seen, but he was mentioned on the most recent season of “Vanderpump Rules.” The former bar star became part of a storyline after he allegedly hooked up with Katie Maloney—the ex-wife of his best friend Tom Schwartz—behind Schwartz’s back.
