Is James Kennedy the Number One Guy in the Vanderpump Rules Group Now?

Is DJ James Kennedy the most sympathetic man on Vanderpump Rules now? Don’t get it twisted, we’re dealing with a real rogue’s gallery of toxic narcissists, serial cheaters, and boy-men here, and James is no exception. But still, the more Tom Sandoval refuses to take accountability for the hurt he’s caused, the more James Kennedy starts to look like the accountability king.

Let me explain.

More than anything else, Vanderpump Rules is a show that rewards patience. Scandoval would have meant nothing had we not watched these people’s relationships grow from their very beginnings. And watching James’s arc is kind of the same.

When James, 32, first appeared on VPR in 2014, he was Kristen Doute’s revenge boyfriend after Sandoval left her for Ariana Madix. It was a role he happily played—if only to get himself on the show. James, then barely of legal drinking age, was an aspiring DJ/busboy with serious rage, an admitted alcohol problem, and a camera-ready shamelessness. He was prone to cringy bravado and angry outbursts, sometimes hurling verbal abuse across the restaurant floor or throwing drinks at his costars. He was frequently fired. In later seasons, he was accused of cheating on his girlfriend with multiple SUR servers. For all of these reasons and more, he fit right in with Jax Taylor and the Toms, who have all been guilty of all of these things. At the time of James’s door-spitting, fit-having, insult-throwing period, Sandoval was the comparative grown up in the group.

Cut to season 11, which premiered on January 30, and the dynamics have done a complete 180. Sandoval, 40, has spent the entire season on a victimhood kick, no matter how many times he’s told that this very attitude is the reason everyone still hates him. In episode 12, Sandoval is mad because Rachel (formerly Raquel, and also formerly James’s fiancée) said on Bethenny Frankel’s podcast that she never really loved him. And it is James, having once been in this very position, who reads him the riot act.

Some highlights from James’s dressing down:

“I don’t want to sit here and talk shit about Raquel. I’m done with the talking shit…. Fuck closure. She’s working on herself.”

“You’re a liar though, Tom. You’re a liar.”

“What you and Ariana had was true love. Do you remember back in the day? You looked me dead in the eyes for years telling me how much you loved that girl. It’s like you forget, though. It’s crazy. You rewrite history in your mind.”

Has James Kennedy actually learned from his mistakes and grown from them? After all, as the Bravo editors helpfully remind us, Rachel has also gone on podcasts to accuse James of verbal abuse. And look at him now.

Once you see it, you start seeing signs of personal growth everywhere. He’s significantly curbed his drinking. His DJing career is, against all odds, doing well. He seems to be a responsible dog parent. And whenever lines are drawn within the group, James is usually aligned with the girls.

While Sandoval treats any woman he’s not currently sleeping with with bitter disdain, there is textual evidence to suggest that James actually paid attention to all of those lectures over the years from Lisa Vanderpump and Lala Kent and even Rachel herself. In the same episode he says that, on current girlfriend Ally Lewber’s advice, he’s decided to apologize to Sandoval in order to keep the peace. Listening to a woman and swallowing your pride? Sandoval would never. According to Sandoval, Lala is a narcissist, Ariana is a user, Rachel is selfish, Katie is a manipulator, Scheana is a betrayer, and they are all out to get him.

As a result, while Sandoval is busy “adulting” (skipping business meetings, headlining a vanity band, having an affair, buying batteries), James is enjoying a redemption arc and playing a set at Coachella.

I want to be careful not to give James too much credit (as I said, rogue’s gallery). VPR is a show with a shaky relationship to its fourth wall, making it hard for viewers (and maybe even its stars, based on Sandoval’s New York Times interview) to separate a flattering producer edit and a genuine reflection of character. There’s a lot of behavior we haven’t heard James apologize or account for, and there’s always a possibility he blows up again next week.

I just want to suggest, humbly, meekly, that maybe some men really are capable of change?

Kathleen Walsh is a Glamour contributor. Her work has been published in outlets such as The New York Times, The Cut, Cosmopolitan, and InStyle, among others.