Ashley Perkins, the daughter of Thomas Ravenel’s alleged sexual assault victim, opened up to Us Weekly about her mother’s accusations against the Southern Charm star and revealed why she decided to speak out.
“It was around three weeks ago … that I realized I didn’t have a NDA, I never signed anything that would have prohibited me from speaking out,” Ashley exclusively told Us on Thursday, May 3. “I had seen Thomas’ smug mug on television, and I obviously have a lot of anger towards this man for what he did to my mom … I want to warn other women about Thomas, because I have heard that he has done similar things to other women besides my mother.”
The real estate agent first claimed in a blog post last month that the 55-year-old sexually assaulted her mother, Debbie Holloway Perkins, after they matched on Tinder in October 2015. (Ravenel’s lawyer responded to the initial allegations in a statement to 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.”)
“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 alleged to Us, referring to Ravenel’s 2007 federal cocaine distribution charges. “We knew he was on Southern Charm, but had never watched the show before then. We had lived in Charleston for almost 20 years, and lived across from the Ravenel bridge.”
Ravenel has been a part of Southern Charm since season 1 in 2014. The hit Bravo series is currently airing its fifth season. Ashley alleged to Us that the former politician brought her mother to his house for a tour and assaulted her in his nanny’s bedroom.
“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, and starts looking out the window, and says to my mom, come look. She does, and Thomas tells her, see that bathroom in the main house, that is where I caught Kathryn [Dennis] making out with another guy,” Ashley claimed to Us, referring to a story line with Ravenel’s ex-girlfriend, Kathryn Dennis, with whom he shares 4-year-old daughter Kenise and 2-year-old son Saint.
“I can’t remember the guy’s name, and at this point, my mom says, he goes into a trance, and shoves her on the nanny’s bed. 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,” Ashley alleged. “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 claimed that Ravenel then told Debbie to “get an Uber and leave,” but because her mother didn’t have the ride sharing app, he gave her a ride home. In the car, the reality TV personality allegedly told Debbie he “only went out with her to f—k her.”
“It took a few hours, she was very withdrawn. She finally told me everything a few hours later. We were both in a state of shock,” Ashley claimed. “The next day I wanted her to preserve evidence and I took pictures of her wrists, but she didn’t want to do anything else because he comes from a lot of money.”
Ashley told Us that she and Debbie hired lawyer Gloria Allred to pursue a case against against the Bravo star. She claimed Ravenel paid her mom $200,000 for a settlement in June 2016 during mediation.
“You know the crazy thing, after the settlement, almost a year to the day of the assault, Thomas called my mom. She was sitting next to me, and her phone was ringing. She said, ‘Oh my god, it’s Thomas,’” Ashely alleged. “She didn’t answer, and he didn’t leave a message. She called her lawyers, but I believe it was deliberately done and on purpose, a reminder to my mom.”
“He should be taken off the show, not just because of what he did to my mother but to other women, he is violent and misogynistic,” the former model added. “My mom shouldn’t have to see his face on television. She has been through enough … I want other women to know that it’s okay to come forward and hold these powerful men accountable.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Ravenel and Bravo for comment.
