“Vanderpump Villa” star Marciano Brunette has sued Demi Engemann and the “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” production company for defamation following allegations of sexual assault made on the show.
In legal documents shared by Brunette’s legal team, Dynamis LLP, Engemann – who appeared in both “Vanderpump Villa” and “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” – and Jeff Jenkins Productions allegedly damaged his reputation by calling him a “sexual predator” and accusing him of sexual assault in Season 3 of “Mormon Wives.”
Representatives for Hulu, Engemann and Jenkins did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Brunette denies Engemann’s sexual assault allegations, in which she previously said she was subjected to unwanted touching by him while filming Season 2 of “Vanderpump Villa.” According to her lawyer, Brunette maintains that their encounter was consensual and that it was “later made into something that it was not.”
“Her main story is simple: They met while filming ‘Vanderpump Villa’ in Italy in August 2024, flirted, talked privately and kissed consensually,” Brunette’s lawyer wrote in a summary of the lawsuit. “He says she even told him ‘I love you’ and he responded the same way. He says there was no non-consensual contact, no assault and nothing ‘predatory’ about it.”
According to the complaint, Brunette and Engemann engaged in a friendly correspondence for months, which included repeated phone calls, FaceTimes, text messages and invitations to visit. His lawyer argues that this correspondence showed “warmth and familiarity, not fear or avoidance.”
However, the complaint alleges that Engemann, who is married, then “reframed the clearly consensual interaction as sexual misconduct and then as sexual assault” after facing “public (and private) criticism of her conduct.”
“She used this accusation to attack Marciano’s credibility, suggesting that others would ‘come forward,’ and portrayed anyone questioning her account as acting in bad faith,” the complaint adds.
Brunette also denounced Jeff Jenkins Productions in her lawsuit, pointing out that the “Mormon Wives” producer “amplified the same accusations for profit.”
“He constructed major storylines around Engemann’s claims, republished his statements as a sexual predator,” the complaint notes, “and disseminated the allegations in a manner designed to maximize impact while excluding Marciano and denying him any meaningful opportunity to respond.”
Brunette claims that production had “obvious reasons to doubt Engemann’s account, including inconsistencies, delays and facts known to production that undermined the claims.”
Through the lawsuit, in which Brunette claims she suffered mental anguish and reputational harm, the “Vanderpump Villa” star is seeking damages, as well as an injunction to prevent Engemann/Jeff Jenkins Productions from repeating those claims.
