Venita Aspen says she’s open to mending fences with Craig Conover — but the ball is in his court.
“I think it would have to come from him," she recently told Deadline about a potential reconciliation. "I’ve never been one to shut him out or say I’m not interested in being friends with him based off of things he said about me in the past."
Venita said she had no intention of reaching out to Craig to address their issues but was willing to hear him out if he initiated the conversation.
“I just kind of let it roll," she added. "If he would want to take the time to schedule something to talk to me, or pick up the phone, or send a text message, like most people do, I would highly appreciate it, but I’m not going to be the one to make the first move on that. He’s already declared what he wants. So who am I to go against that, right?”
Venita "reached out to [Paige] over Craig" after their split
The Southern Charm cast members fell out earlier this year after Venita weighed in on Craig’s split with Summer House’s Paige DeSorbo. During the March 20 episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, the fashion influencer/content creator revealed she had sent Paige a supportive message after the highly publicized breakup but did not reach out to her Southern Charm castmate.
“I have a closer relationship with Paige than I do [with] Craig,” she said. “So, I reached out to her over Craig.”
Venita has thoughts on the way Craig handled his breakup
Venita made similar comments during her February 25 interview with The Viall Files podcast, where she also accused Craig of “milking” his split with Paige.
“Craig and I are not that close… He’s not confiding in me,” she said before touching on Craig’s post-breakup media appearances. “[Paige] is just trying to let the situation die… We understand [Craig’s] heart is broken, but it almost seems like you’re dragging this out longer than it needs to be. Just let it be as clean of a breakup as it can be.’
Craig says he will no longer "be associated with" Venita
Craig addressed Venita’s comment during the March 27 episode of WWHL, declaring he had no interest in being friends with his fellow Southern Charm-er.
“If I’m being honest, I won’t be associated with her because as I get older, my [friendship] circle gets tighter and tighter,” he explained. “It wasn’t about being on Paige’s side — you can be Paige’s friend — it was what she said about me… So I’m not friends with her. I wish her well, but no one is entitled to my friendship, and she definitely isn’t anymore.”
Venita defends her comments about Craig: "What was I supposed to do?"
Venita told Deadline she was “quite disappointed” with Craig’s reaction, insisting she would’ve never done that to him.
“I don’t operate like that from a friendship level, even if it’s a new friend, an old friend, or a friend that I’ve had back and forth with,” she said. “I think that I would have preferred him to be the quarterback that he is and lead his teammates in whatever direction he wanted us to go to versus deeming people who go against whatever he wants unworthy of friendship. We don’t talk, so what was I supposed to do?
“It doesn’t take much to say, ‘Hey… I really appreciate it if you got asked about our relationship, you didn’t talk about it,’" Venita continued. “I would have said, ‘I completely understand.’”
Get more details about Ventia and Jarrett “JT” Thomas' tense exchange at the Southern Charm Season 10 reunion, including what went down during their backstage exchange.
