Kyle Cooke is speaking out against Hannah Berner‘s “upsetting” narrative about her firing and his alleged involvement.
Days after the former Summer House cast member opened up about her exit from the Bravo series on Dave Portnoy‘s podcast, suggesting she was canned after participating in an ad for Truly Hard Seltzer, a competitor of Kyle’s brand, Loverboy, Kyle, 41, insisted he had “nothing to do” with Hannah, 32, getting fired.
“I have nothing to do with casting,” Kyle told Page Six on July 18. “[It’s] upsetting [that] this is the narrative being shared because there’s no truth to it … I’m flattered anyone thinks I could have that kind of pull, but clearly, I don’t have any control over what Bravo does.”
As fans will recall, Hannah left the show in 2021 after season five. And on Dave’s podcast, she claimed her exit was preceded by her ad for Truly, saying she “didn’t know [she] wasn’t allowed to drink other drinks.”
“That’s a ridiculous statement and completely false,” Kyle fired back. “I believe her collaboration with Truly was a year after we filmed the season five reunion, so the timing doesn’t add up.”
According to Page Six, Hannah’s ads for Truly weren’t released until April 2022, but her partnership was announced in August 2019.
“We never spoke about it, but when I saw it, I thought that it made a lot of sense for them to tap into the Bravo fanbase,” Kyle shared. “At that point in time, Loverboy was legitimately taking off, and I was too focused there to give it any more thought than that.”
Although Hannah suggested that she was faced with “egos” on the show, signaling to Kyle, and suggesting he was attempting to make the rules, Kyle says fans should “go back and watch” season five and “form their own opinion.”
“Personally, I think she was saying things on multiple podcasts leading up to the reunion that upset a lot of our group, and that’s what got in the way,” Kyle explained. “[I] never voiced any issue with filming with her.”
In fact, after filming the season five reunion, Kyle said Hannah “reached out” to him, “basically apologizing.”
“I told her no apology to me was necessary but that Amanda deserved one,” he recalled, noting that his “main concern” was his wife, Amanda Batula, 32.
“My issues with Hannah had nothing to do with beverages or egos or screen time — they had to do with how she was treating Amanda,” he revealed, adding that he was “only commenting on” Hannah’s claims about her firing “because these lies are disparaging to [his] business.”
Kyle went on to say that he found Hannah’s comedy and podcast careers to be “remarkable” and that he “plan[s] on watching her [new Netflix] special and encourage[s] everyone to tune in.”
“I’ve said on multiple occasions that I would love to put this behind us,” he shared. “[I] sent Hannah a congratulatory text about a year ago when [he] saw her name on a list of ‘top 10 comedians to watch’ to try and break the silence.”
“I hate having lingering issues with anyone in my life, and I always hoped for an opportunity to reconcile things with Hannah. … I don’t want any bad blood and wish her nothing but success,” he added.
In other Summer House news, Kyle announced that Amanda was meeting with a company in New York City to pursue her dreams of creating a swimsuit line.
“Tomorrow, she has an in-person meeting to develop her own swim line,” he shared of his wife during a recent appearance, going on to add, “Amanda has a meeting in New York City for her own swim line.”
Summer House season nine is currently in production and expected to begin airing on Bravo sometime later this year or early next year.
