Just in time for tonight’s sixth season premiere of Bravo TV’s Southern Charm, the hit show’s former male lead is back in the news … in a big way.
According to an exclusive report from The Daily Mail, a host of “fresh allegations” have been lobbed against disgraced former politician Thomas Ravenel by his former nanny, Dawn Ledwell.
Some of them are pretty seismic, too, although at this point when it comes to Ravenel literally nothing surprises us …
Ledwell, 44, is suing Ravenel and a host of corporate defendants in connection with an alleged sexual assault she claims to have sustained at his hands. This alleged assault is also the focus of an ongoing criminal case against Ravenel – one in which he must soon decide whether to take a plea deal or face elevated charges.
And remember, all of these dominos began to fall last April when our news outlet first reported on an alleged sexual assault settlement involving Ravenel and another woman.
Earlier this spring, Ledwell and her husband were dragged into the contentious custody battle between Ravenel and Southern Charm star Kathryn Calhoun Dennis, who has two children with the 56-year-old playboy.
During a deposition in the custody case, Ledwell recounted an incident in November 2015 in which Ravenel allegedly offered to pay an Uber driver $500 to wipe cocaine off of his face and clothes following a night of partying.
This incident allegedly took place shortly after the birth of Ravenel’s son, St. Julien “Saint” Rembert Ravenel.
“Thomas was the last person to be dropped off and he wanted to give (the Uber driver) a tour of his house,” Ledwell said. “She’s trying to convince him to go to the hospital. Like, ‘dude, if you’re celebrating the birth of your baby, you need to go to the hospital and spend time with the baby. Wasn’t the baby born early?’ And so he’s like ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, will you do me a favor? I’ll pay you $500 to clean the cocaine off my face and wipe it off my clothes.'”
According to Ledwell, Ravenel ended up paying the woman $200 but allegedly stiffed her on the remaining $300.
Ledwell also claimed in her deposition that Ravenel tried to get Dennis to terminate her pregnancy with Saint, threw cigarette butts in her face when she slept late and “nearly amputated (her) hand in a car door” during a drunken dispute.
Wow …
[su_dominion_video_scb]Elected treasurer of South Carolina in 2006, Ravenel was forced to resign the following year after being arrested on federal drug charges. He eventually entered a guilty plea in connection with that case and served ten months in a federal prison.
Ravenel ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2004 as a Republican – finishing third in a GOP primary election. In 2014 he ran as a petition candidate for the U.S. Senate, finishing a distant third place in that year’s general election.
Prior to his 2007 arrest, Ravenel was viewed as one of the rising stars of the South Carolina Republican party.
In 2013, Ravenel became a national celebrity with the launch of Southern Charm, a Charleston, S.C.-based reality show that follows the escapades of wealthy socialites in one of the south’s most historic cities. Ravenel was the male lead on the show for its first five seasons, while Dennis became a cast member during the show’s second season.
According to Ledwell’s deposition, Ravenel continues to indulge his cocaine habit – as well as an affinity for bourbon. Additionally, she claims he is taking a cocktail of various pharmaceuticals – including prescription drugs he is allegedly abusing along with alcohol.
“He had a big, clear bag that he used to travel with, with piles of pills,” Ledwell said.
She also claimed Ravenel sniffed cocaine “off his campaign sign” during his 2014 race.
Ravenel will not appear on Southern Charm this year, however according to our intrepid columnist Amy Feinstein “he is the specter haunting the cast this year.”
-FITSNews
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