Kyle Cooke is upset about Craig Conover investing in Spritz Society, a competitor to his canned cocktail company, Loverboy.
The “Summer House” star made the admission on “Watch What Happens Live” Thursday after host Andy Cohen asked whether there was “any bad blood” between him and the “Southern Charm” star over their dueling business ventures.
“There’s really no bad blood because I think this is being blown out of proportion. I don’t really think there was an investment, and it seems like all the press is referencing me,” he began.
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However, Cooke, 41, then claimed that Loverboy sells “five times more” products than Spritz despite primarily focusing on sparkling hard teas.
“We’re not even a spritz company. That’s, like, our ancillary product. Look, I wish him the best, but the way he handled it … it really rubbed me the wrong way, and I’m just trying to take the high road,” he added.
Cohen pointed out that Cooke “actually look[ed] upset,” to which the reality star replied, “Well, he has a reputation of lying, and he lied to me.”
Cooke continued talking about the investorship during the “WWHL” after show, claiming the founder of Spritz Society, Ben Soffer, had taken him out to dinner a few days before Conover, 36, announced their partnership but “failed to mention” the deal and “milked information from” him.
“So, really shady operation,” Cooke continued. “Then, I think Craig had already signed the deal when he confronted me, and then he claimed that he didn’t know I have a spritz. He thought I just had sparkling hard teas, and I’m like, ‘Bro, we launched our spritz line a year and a half before this company.'”
Cooke went on to call Spritz Society a “copycat” and ended his spiel by calling Conover’s move “kind of wack.”
The next day, Soffer’s wife, Claudia Oshry, responded to Cooke’s claims on her podcast, “The Toast,” and slammed the Bravolebrity as a “loser” who “lied” on TV.
The influencer began by explaining that Conover had approached her and Soffer about investing in Spritz Society last summer after he tasted the company’s drinks for the first time and “loved” them.
“No one was thinking about Kyle — like, nobody thinks about Kyle and Loverboy. Like, two things can exist, and two people can be successful, and there’s a million canned cocktail companies besides us, and they’re all bigger than us, so it’s not a big deal. It was never about that, but I think Craig was aware that he wanted to tell Kyle in his own way,” she said.
Oshry recalled Conover taking Cooke out to dinner “a week before” his investorship became public knowledge and let him know about it. However, she also claimed Conover had offered to invest in Loverboy instead if Cooke would let him.
“He’s really smart, and he wanted to invest in a ready-to-drink cocktail, and he said, ‘Listen, I really love Spritz, but of course, I will invest in you if you don’t want me to do Spritz.’ … And [Cooke] said no,” she alleged.
“So Kyle knew he had first right of refusal, and I feel like that’s what a good, honest person does, so to be called a liar on the show and then completely not include that very vital conversation was dishonest, Kyle, and I don’t like that,” the “Girl With No Job” author added.
Oshry further blasted Cooke for claiming Soffer had “milked” him for information during their dinner, saying that “couldn’t be further from the truth.”
“Ben didn’t milk you for information. It was so mature of them. When Ben got back from dinner, he was like, ‘It was just nice to talk to somebody who was doing something similar,'” she remembered.
The content creator acknowledged that her husband did not tell Cooke about Conover’s future role at the company but also did “not know in what world Ben would’ve owed Kyle Cooke anything.”
“We’re not huge, but we do our best, and we have a lot of fun and exciting things and a lot of things we’ve accomplished that were really proud of, and we’re gonna keep going, and we love it, and we do very well, so eat my ass,” she fumed.
Elsewhere in the podcast episode, Oshry called out Cooke for not being able to “really define what kind of company” Loverboy is, even going so far as to claim “they would put their urine in a can and sell it if they could.” She eventually admitted her comment was “mean” and took it back.
Oshry also claimed Cooke had purchased an item from Spritz Society in the past and that she has the “receipt” to prove it. Meanwhile, she said she has never tasted any of Loverboy products.
“At the end of the day, there’s space for all of us. There’s no need to be slinging insults. Kyle and Craig are like low-key not even that close, but that’s also not important, but I didn’t like that,” she concluded.
Earlier this month, Conover told Page Six exclusively that he “always” wanted to have an alcoholic brand in his investment portfolio.
“[Spritz Society] is wine-based, and they’re great, and they’re just so fun right now. It’s a fun summer drink,” he said.
The Sewing Down South owner insisted at the time that he has “always respected Kyle’s hustle” and now understands “why he’s had to work so hard.”
Conover also stated that he had a “conversation with Kyle” prior to his announcement and said he “would have loved to invest” in Loverboy, but “that wasn’t an option.”
“I have nothing but respect for those guys, and I will always be a Loverboy fan,” he said. “But guess what? I’m all the way down in Charleston, and I’m on a different show and we’re going to have Spritz down there now.”
