Ashley Jacobs has broken her silence on claims that her boyfriend Thomas Ravenel sexually assaulted two women.
The nurse stood in for the disgraced politician on Thursday night’s conclusion to the Southern Charm season 5 reunion, attempting to explain the dynamics of their seemingly turbulent relationship to his friends and costars.
Ravenel, 55, did not attend as South Carolina police continue to investigate allegations levied by the former nanny to his daughter Kensie, 4, and son Saint, 2½. Real estate agent Ashley Perkins has also accused him of assaulting her mom Debbie Holloway Perkins after they met on Tinder in October 2015.
“How is Thomas doing in light of the investigation?” host Andy Cohen asked.
“I have seen a new Thomas,” Jacobs said. “I mean, it’s humbling, of course, and now he’s [like] let’s stay in, let’s watch movies, let’s cook dinner, let’s just stay under the radar right now. And I’ve just seen a much softer, more sensitive, kinder, more supportive boyfriend. You know, everyone wants to be with you when you’re on top. Who’s with you when you’re down there? And I’ve told him, I’ve just said, I’m not leaving.”
As for whether she expects her boyfriend to be cleared of any wrongdoing, she replied, “Of course, yes. And it’s all hearsay. I mean, he’s not been charged with anything. These are just allegations. It used to be, you know, you’re innocent until proven guilty. Now you’re guilty until proven innocent.”
Later, viewers learned that when Ravenel hooked up with off-on love Kathryn Dennis last June, he’d been quietly seeing Jacobs for a month. Dennis — the mother of his children — said she had no clue he was dating anyone at the time, but Jacobs acted unbothered by the apparent infidelity.
“Oh, Thomas told me in July,” she said. “He does not lie. He’s straight-forward.”
But the rest of the cast wasn’t convinced by her insistence that she and Ravenel are in a healthy relationship: Cameran Eubanks referred to their dynamic as “volatile,” and Chelsea Meissner recalled how one of her hair clients allegedly saw Ravenel throw leftovers at Jacobs outside of a restaurant.
“No, he did not throw it at me,” Jacobs said slowly. “He was upset because I was leaving, and I handed him the food, and I was being a brat. It was my fault. I was being a brat.”
“You just took the blame for him yelling at you,” Craig Conover said. “That’s a horrible red flag.”
“What does it say about a man who talks poorly about the mother of his children?” Eubanks asked, referring to the fiery feud between Jacobs and Dennis. “And he has said horrible things about you. About you! To everyone here! I mean, that would kill me.”
Austen Kroll accused her of being in denial, and Conover pointed out her shockingly thin appearance. (Jacobs has admitted to losing weight due to anxiety.)
In the end, they said Jacobs is being manipulated by Ravenel in the same way he once controlled her enemy: Dennis.
“You’re exactly where Kathryn was,” Conover said.
“You’re lying to yourself, Ashley,” Eubanks added.
“Is this an intervention, you guys?” Jacobs asked with a laugh, rolling her eyes at Cohen.
“We’re trying to help,” Meissner insisted.
“I feel bad for you, and I’m watching you be me years ago. I’m watching it unfold right before me,” Dennis said.
But Eubanks put it the most directly: “It’s not just her. It’s how he’s been a not nice person. … Save yourself and go back to California and give yourself a nice life while you can.”
After once again denying the rumor that she’s a paid escort and sort of apologizing to Dennis for calling her an “egg donor” instead of a mother, Jacobs left the soundstage.
The cameras followed her to the dressing room, where she broke down in tears.
“Think think I’m just brainwashed. And maybe in the beginning when I met him, maybe I was a little brainwashed. And I guess that’s what I get for judging Katherine,” she cried to a producer. “He’s my best friend and I’m not ready to throw in the towel, despite but everybody else says. I’m really happy.”
