Bravo and Haymaker, the production company for Southern Charm, have broken their silence on the sexual assault allegations made against Thomas Ravenel.
“Haymaker, the production company for Southern Charm, and Bravo take allegations like these very seriously,” the network said in a statement to Us Weekly Friday, May 4. “Haymaker is conducting an investigation, and once all the information is gathered and carefully reviewed, appropriate action will be taken.”
As previously reported, the 55-year-old Bravo star made headlines on Thursday, May 3, for sexual assault allegations made by Ashley Perkins, who claimed Ravenel sexual assaulted her mother, Debbie Holloway Perkins, after they matched on Tinder in October 2015.
Ashley opened up to Us about the allegations on Thursday.
“Thomas comes to pick her up, but I was concerned he might be inebriated because he was slurring his words on a voicemail he left for my mom because he was having trouble finding our house. I brushed it aside, because at this point I didn’t know anything about his past convictions involving cocaine,” Ashley claimed to Us, referencing Ravenel’s 2007 federal cocaine distribution charges. “He takes her into the house, and gives her a tour of the main house, very clinical, in a non-sexual way.”
“He takes her into the nanny’s room … My mom says, he goes into a trance, and shoves her on the nanny’s bed,” the former model alleged. “He is pulling her pants down, he digitally penetrates my mom in her vagina and butt with his fingers, and my mom is screaming at him to get off of her, and no. He is holding her wrists above her head, which explains the injuries she suffered, and the bruising. My mom screams at him, ‘You are a rapist.’”
Ashley also claimed that her mother had marks on her wrists after her alleged encounter with Ravenel. The real estate agent told Us that the former politician paid her mom $200,000 for a settlement in June 2016 after the mother-daughter duo hired a lawyer.
Ravenel has starred on Southern Charm since its premiere in 2014. The series is currently airing its fifth season. His lawyer released a statement regarding Ashley’s allegations Us on Thursday: “My client enjoys a certain degree of fame and unfortunately has become — unfairly — a target for an individual who has, in my opinion, dubious motivations.”
