Rumors About Brandi Passante We Couldn't Ignore

Brandi Passante underwent a complete transformation as she transitioned from a simple life in Texas to reality TV stardom. The stay-at-home mom of two first got into thrifting when she and her then-partner, Jarrod Schulz, decided to ride out the 2007 recession by making ends meet with the help of storage lockers. They started buying containers at auction after one of Schulz's aunts suggested it, and soon, they were doing so well that they opened a second-hand thrift store called Now and Then in Orange County, California.

From there, it was a seemingly logical next step to "Storage Wars," which debuted in 2010 with both Passante and Schulz. Passante was an instant hit on the male-dominated show and quickly became a recognizable reality TV star. Like it or not, she was catapulted into the spotlight, and folks wanted to know everything about her, both personal and professional. Even so, there are still plenty of Passante facts you may not know, like the fact that Schulz used to be her boss and that she believes in paranormal activity. In addition to such confirmed surprise facts, though, there have also been numerous rumors swirling around Passante, and the ones below were particularly hard to ignore.

There has been plenty of chatter online about whether or not "Storage Wars" is fake. Rumors really took off in December 2012 when former star David Hester sued A&E Television Networks, claiming he was wrongfully fired after he called out producers for staging the show. According to Hester, A&E would plant items in order to boost ratings, which might explain the strangest thing Brandi Passante ever found in a locker: canine remains. A judge eventually tossed out those claims while executive producer Thom Beers told a 2012 panel, per Reality Blurred, "I can honestly tell you that the stuff found in those containers are found in storage containers." Interestingly, he did admit that the crew would occasionally move objects between units and that while all the goods purchased were legit, the dialogue wasn't. "There's some writing involved," he admitted, explaining how producers would supply the cast, including Brandi Passante, with about half of what they wanted them to talk about while letting them fill in the rest.

Given those revelations, fans continued to wonder if the show was a set-up, but Passante herself denied those rumors in a 2021 interview with Distractify. "I don't think the show really highlights the bad ones as much," she noted, saying folks likely believe objects are planted because they only see the impressive finds. What's more, she explained that all of the auctions are open to the public, so "it would be collusion, which is against the law, to tamper with any of the storage units prior."

When David Hester sued A&E in 2012, claiming the show was staged, he didn't just accuse producers of planting items in lockers to boost viewership. Rather, he went as far as to claim, via Deadline, that Original Productions would spare no expense to get ratings, even paying for cosmetic procedures. "Nearly every aspect of the series is faked, even down to the plastic surgery that one of the female cast members underwent in order to create more 'sex appeal' for the show," Hester alleged, adding, "The cost of which was paid for by Original."

While it wasn't specified who said female was, only Laura Dotson and Brandi Passante were the only women starring on the show at the time, and a source told the National Enquirer that it was the latter who went under the knife. "Brandi lost about 15 pounds from one season to the next and is now wearing tighter-fitting clothes to show off her amazing curves," the insider mused while another added, "Show producers are well aware that playing up Brandi's sex appeal won't hurt ratings." As for Passante, she addressed some plastic surgery rumors in 2013 when she responded to a tweet asking "Are the boobies fake?" with a simple "No jacka**."

Years before AI deepfakes became a prevalent part of the Internet, Brandi Passante made headlines after she claimed she was the victim of falsified explicit content. The revelation came in 2012, just a couple of years after Passante got her start on "Storage Wars," as she claimed that Hunter Moore, who owned a revenge porn site called IsAnyoneUp.com, was spreading X-rated content featuring her likeness. Passante even went as far as to file a lawsuit against Moore, saying, via The Hollywood Reporter, that the video he was sharing on social media was "fabricated" and that the woman seen in the clip was not her.

The reality TV star accused Moore of defamation and claimed that she was physically and mentally sick over the thought that her loved ones might see it. In the lawsuit, Passante asked for a whopping $2.5 million in damages, but ultimately, she was granted just $750 the following year. That's because a judge concluded, per Us Weekly, that Passante gave "absolutely no support for this calculation of damages."

The breakup of Brandi Passante and Jarrod Schulz came as a surprise to viewers in 2021 when Passante announced on the Season 13 premiere of "Storage Wars," per People, "I'm not with Jarrod anymore." While she didn't go into too many details, she added that the pair had actually split years earlier after they finished work on Season 12, which premiered in late 2018.

Interestingly, that timeline came somewhat into question after the exes reportedly got into a physical altercation inside a California bar in 2021. Despite allegedly having called it quits years earlier, the duo bumped into each other at the Orange County establishment, Passante told Schulz to leave, at which point he began to yell, then pushed her. Schulz denied those claims but was eventually charged with one count of misdemeanor domestic violence battery. When People reached out for comment, neither Passante nor Schulz wanted to talk about the incident and reveal what exactly went down. However, when Schulz suddenly left the show after that, there was speculation that his legal issues may have been the real reason for his sudden departure.

Of all the tragic details we know about Brandi Passante, her tumultuous relationship and eventual split with Jarrod Schulz is certainly one of them. The pair met in 1999, had two children together, then split in 2018, leaving Passante feeling both sad and relieved. Stopping by the Spirit Talk YouTube channel in 2021, she revealed she wasn't dating anyone because she first had to sort out her own needs and wants. "I wasn't really allowed to have an identity for many, many years," she said of her time with Schulz. "And so these last couple of years, I'm kind of coming into my own and figuring out who I am."

Yet it seems that has since changed, as in 2024, Passante shared images on Instagram showing her enjoying life with a new man named Clifford "Cliff" Beaver. Beaver is also a dad of two and owns "Our Place Bar & Grill" in Lake Forest, California. And while the reality star hasn't posted regularly since 2024, Beaver wished Passante a happy birthday and called her his "ride or die" in an Instagram post in May 2025. However, both have been quiet since, leaving fans asking, yet again, is Brandi Passante dating anyone?