Some Viewers of 'The Valley' Have No Idea Who Jared Is or Why He's Team Janet

Not all of the friends on The Valley can be main characters or even main cast members on the kind of/sort of Vanderpump Rules spinoff. But when viewers saw Jared Lipscomb in an episode of The Valley, many were left scratching their heads to figure out who this Jared guy is and why he's relevant to the drama happening between Kristen Doute and Janet Caperna.

If you're a fan of VPR from back in the day, you might recognize Jared. He was friends with Kristen once upon a time and is a lot closer to her and Brittany Cartwright than he appears to now be with Janet. But for some fans, that still doesn't quite explain how he fits in the mix amid the ongoing drama in the second season of the Bravo show.

During the June 3, 2025 episode of The Valley, things heat up when Janet claims Zack Wickham said "some pretty horrible things" about Jared. There is no footage of these "horrible things," but Janet's claims are more shots fired that ignite Zack to defend himself. He admits that he did say Jared could "go f--k himself," but that he was just venting.

As a result of Janet opening her mouth about it and showing her frustration, Zack feels hurt by Brittany for not sticking up for him. Really, Jared is just the vessel for more drama rather than a drama starter himself. But he had been part of the friend group before, even if he was never a permanent part of any of the Bravo shows where the regular suspects have been present for more than a decade.

In 2020, Kristen and Brittany were both extremely close to Jared. According to Bravo, the women supported Jared as he went through treatment for acute myeloid leukemia. Kristen and Brittany took Jared on a trip to Las Vegas ahead of his scheduled bone marrow transplant to treat his leukemia.

These days, Jared seems to be closer to Janet and former VPR star Scheana Shay, and not just because of Janet and Jared's friendship on The Valley. Jared's Instagram is full of selfies and outings with the ladies, and even with Janet's husband, Jason Caperna.

Since Kristen isn't Janet's biggest fan, she and Jared might not be as close as they used to be. According to a Reddit thread about how Kristen allegedly originally brought Jared into the fold years ago when she was on VPR, Kristen and Jared had something of a falling out, though it's unclear if it happened before or after the filming of Season 2 of The Valley.

Someone on the thread also claimed that Jared appeared on Scheana's podcast and said he doesn't feel comfortable around Kristen and that he is "very protective" of Janet. For now, it looks like the lines have been drawn both on and off the show.

Watch The Valley on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EST on Bravo.