Something About Her co-owners Ariana Madix and Katie Maloney are fighting back against Chef Penny Davidi, who believes she is the Vanderpump Rules stars’ business partner. Instagram’s @StephWithDaDeets did a deep dive on the pickle the sandwich shop owners put Chef Penny in by opposing her claims against them.
Katie and Ariana VS Chef Penny:
An opposition to Penny’s trademark case was filed on June 25, 2024 by Ariana and Katie’s top ranked trademark attorney, Barbara A. Solomon. Legal documents show the VPR stars filed a case against ‘Put A Fork In It LLC.’ The LLC is seemingly owned by Chef Penny.
Hiring an attorney of this caliber is a power move if I ever saw one. Especially when you take this into consideration … Stephanie‘s findings on the Food Network personality’s husband/attorney were sketchy AF. First of all, Penny’s husband, Johnathan Lee Borsuk is an “Active” licensed attorney. While Johnathan’s website looks legit at a glance, there’s no sustenance to it.
Johnathan boasts he has “Experience in state and federal trials.” But, there isn’t record of any professional history. There are no reviews or client endorsements. His bio doesn’t even list which college or law school Johnathan attended.
It’s also shady that Johnathan lists his address as 2121 Avenue of the Stars, Eighth Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90067. The eighth floor Century City Office Space is a co-working space. Premier Workspaces‘s website states “Our 8th floor co-working office space offers the city skyline, Santa Monica mountains, and Pacific Ocean views.”
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Penny’s lawsuit against Katie and Ariana:
In an interview with the U.S. Sun, Penny discussed why she believes she’s a SAH partner. “Once they agree on email that they agree to my terms and that I should proceed with the work, the intent by California law, I’m a partner,” explained Chef Penny. “I own 10% of that business – Ten percent of the entire brand and of the gross.”
Although Penny didn’t sign a contract, she “has email proof and text messages proving she’s a partner. There’s an intent I sent them. They’re like, ‘Okay, just email us everything you want and we’ll run it by our attorneys.’ So I have the email. I wanted a monthly fee and then the percentage of the entire brand, not of one store.”
My non-professional, unsolicited commentary:
The BDE Katie and Ariana had in retaining an attorney of that caliber sends a big message to a small-time lawyer. What Chef Penny has in her favor is that her husband (is likely) working for free. Ariana and Katie, on the other hand, are (likely) spending top-dollar on top-level representation. My guess is that it’s in hopes to scare Chef Penny and Johnathan into dropping the case. If Chef Penny and Johnathan have the time, they may proceed with their case against the Pump Rules personalities. We’ll have to wait to see how this all plays out.
