VPR’s Tom Schwartz Reacts to Claim He’s “Unrecognizable” at 43

Tom Schwartz knows that it’s his time to clear the air.

The Vanderpump Rules alum clapped back after a tabloid published a paparazzi photo of him out in Los Angeles with the headline reading: “Tom Schwartz is unrecognizable as he surfaces downcast at 43.”

“His trademark breezy ebullience seemed nowhere in evidence,” read the July 22 article, which also detailed how his and Tom Sandoval‘s Hollywood bar Schwartz & Sandy’s had closed down while the L.A. sandwich shop owned by Schwartz’s ex-wife Katie Maloney “remains open.”

Well, Schwartz wasn’t exactly raising a glass to how he was depicted. As he joked on his Instagram Story July 23 alongside a screenshot of the story, “You better sleep with one eye open @DailyMail,” alongside a sobbing emoji.

His girlfriend Kiana Carroll also jumped to his defense, sharing a Boomerang video of Schwartz by a pool with the caption, “It was a bad angle guys.”

And while the friendship between Schwartz and Sandoval, 43, did hit a rough patch during the final days of Schwartz & Sandy’s—which were preceded by the infamous Scandoval cheating controversy and a complete VPR cast overhaul—it’s all water under the bridge for the Valley star.