Thomas Ravenel, one of the stars of the Bravo reality series “Southern Charm,” has been accused of sexual assault by a woman who says her mother went on a date with him in 2015.
In interviews with various media outlets, real estate agent and model Ashley Perkins said her mother, Debbie Holloway Perkins, met Ravenel on Tinder in October 2015, and was sexually assaulted by the reality star when they went out on a date a few months later.
Perkins told People that Ravenel invited her mother to his home in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, where he held her down, digitally penetrated her and stuck his penis in her face, ignoring her protests.
“He pushes my mom onto the nanny’s bed, grabs her wrist with one hand, then he starts trying to pull her pants off,” she said. “And she’s like ‘No, no, no, stop.’ He stuck his fingers inside of her vagina as well as her anus. She told me that he held her hands back with one arm and then pulled his penis out and shoved it in her face.”
After she screamed “you’re a rapist” at Ravenel, he stopped and drove her home, despite being intoxicated, said Perkins.
Perkins did not witness the alleged assault, but said her mother told her what happened when she got home. The next morning, they took photos of bruising on Holloway Perkins’ wrist stemming from the encounter.
She said they later hired Gloria Allred to represent her mother and entered mediation with Ravenel in June 2016. According to Perkins, who attended mediation with her mother, the two parties reached a settlement agreement for $200,000, with Holloway Perkins signing a non-disclosure agreement.
In a statement to People, Ravenel’s attorney, Richard P. Terbrusch said, “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.”
Ravenel, a former politician who once ran a failed campaign for the U.S. Senate as an Independent, has starred on the Bravo reality series “Southern Charm” since 2014. The fifth season of the show premiered in February.
In a statement to TheWrap, a network spokesperson said the allegations against Ravenel were being investigated: “Haymaker, the production company for ‘Southern Charm,’ and Bravo take allegations like these very seriously. Haymaker is conducting an investigation, and once all the information is gathered and carefully reviewed, appropriate action will be taken.”