‘Vanderpump Rules’: James Kennedy Sounds Off on Katie Maloney’s Ultimatum to Get Him Fired (Exclusive)

Nobody messes with James Kennedy! Except, maybe, Katie Maloney-Schwartz.

“There's a lot of negative energies being pointed towards me this season,” James teases to ET at DailyMail.com and Daily Mail TV’s holiday party in New York City. “You know, there’s one thing with me: I always like to stand tall, strong and, hopefully, Lisa [Vanderpump] stands on my side with this one. I know how it pans out, but you’re gonna have to wait and see. [Sunday’s] gonna be interesting.”

On the next episode of Vanderpump Rules, airing on a special night, Sunday, Katie confronts Lisa over James’ behavior at Lisa's restaurant, SUR.

“I am not willing to work in a place where that is tolerated,” she tells Lisa, referencing James’ verbal attacks over her physical appearance seen on episode two of the Bravo hit.

“Basically, it’s an ultimatum?” Lisa asks, to which Katie says, “Maybe it is an ultimatum.”

Judging by the season seven trailer, things go Katie’s way. In one tense scene, James is seen crying, “Lisa, please, don’t take it from me,” referencing his DJ-ing gig at SUR. Lisa tells James, “I can’t risk it.”

Of course, James’ DJ-ing has him in hot water with co-stars Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright. The pair was more than upset with James after he “freestyled” the line, “I just got rich, I may cop a Black Wraith, everyone remember when Jax f**ked Faith?” during one of his sets, referencing Jax being unfaithful to Brittany.

“They made it look like it was just a one time, said a line thing and that was a 'freestyle,’” Brittany shared with ET in November. “No, he was chanting it over and over and over and over again.”

“It was a much bigger deal, and we all know it’s not a freestyle,” she said. “James does not freestyle. I’m sure he can’t actually freestyle.”

“When I’m freestyling, it’s always a freestyle,” James says in his defense. “Yeah, don’t know where she got that from, but, you know…”

Whether James freestyles or not is probably the least of his worries going into episode three, as he is forced to fight against the cheating accusations thrown at him by ex Kristen Doute. She confronted James’ girlfriend, Raquel Leviss, in the SUR bathroom alongside a woman, Hope, who claimed to have slept with James on multiple occasions during his and Raquel’s relationship. James denies all of it.

“We’re clearly still together, very in love and, you know, I think as the story unfolds, viewers are gonna see a greater understanding,” James teases to ET. “But it's hard to watch back sometimes because you never know what's going to be seen, and what's not going to be seen, in a 22-hour [sic] day, you know? It gets hectic.”

“We're staying positive with it, you know?” Raquel chimes in. “Like, we're still together and we love each other very much.”

“And that’s all that matters,” James says. “The views are up right now, which is great. I’m sure Lisa’s happy.”

Tune into Vanderpump Rules on its special night, Sunday, Dec. 16, at 9 p.m. ET. For more on Vanderpump -- including Lala Kent saying James and Raquel aren’t really in the “group” -- check out the video and links below.

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