Summer House‘s Kyle Cooke confirmed that he did not invest in Carl Radke’s new business — but insisted that he had a valid reason for not doing so.
Amid Amanda Batula’s birthday dinner during Season 10, Episode 6, Bailey Taylor noted Carl’s absence from the celebration, before Kyle chimed in. “Listen, as much as he’d want to be here, he’s got such a tight timeline to get that thing open.” Kyle was, of course, referring to Soft Bar, which he said was still in a “pretty raw” state amid ongoing construction.
That’s when Ben Waddell shared that he’d just visited the site of Carl’s alcohol-free bar in Brooklyn, which he said their castmate planned to “soft launch” very soon. Following his and Carl’s previous conversation about Kyle’s lack of financial support in Soft Bar, Ben pointed out that Jesse Solomon “got involved” and invested in the company.
“So, Carl did ask me to invest,” Kyle responded, underscoring how he had joined Soft Bar’s advisory board. “I said point-blank, I cut a half-a-million-dollar check into Loverboy to literally meet payroll. So, I told Carl, I’m like, ‘Look, bro, I love you, I believe in you, and this is not personal, but I’m literally on the hook financially for my own business.'”
Jesse, meanwhile, highlighted how Carl had “invested in Loverboy,” to which Kyle replied, “Back in the day, he put 15 grand in, yeah.”
Finally, Amanda asked Kyle if he really “didn’t invest in Soft Bar at all,” and he answered, “No. I mean, I shared his crowdfunding campaign. If Carl wants me to write him a check for 15 grand to Soft Bar, sure.”
Amanda Batula and Kyle Cooke during Summer House Season 10 Episode 06.
As Jesse went on to tell Kyle, “I think he was just upset that you initially were gonna invest and then pulled out. And then he sees you doing all these DJ gigs and, like, making money. And you know Carl’s, like, a sensitive guy, and it’s about the sentiment, not, like, the financial piece of it.”
In a confessional, Kyle admitted that he did not see this conversation coming.
“I feel blindsided, ” he remarked to a producer. “I could not have been more clear in December about why I wasn’t in a position to invest. Financially, we are in the worst place we’ve ever been at Loverboy. I’m doing my best not to have to lay people off, and so instead of literally firing my whole entire team, I put $500,000 up to cover payroll.”
Back at the dinner table in the Hamptons, Kyle added, “I mean, if I’m putting more money into my business than he’s putting into his, then he should understand literal financial implications.”
Finally, Jesse conceded that the issue was between the two of them and suggested that they “have a conversation.” Kyle responded, “I’m happy to.”
Though Carl has yet to speak to Kyle directly about his feelings, he opened up to both Ben and a producer in the previous Summer House episode.
After Carl rattled off how some close friends, family members, athletes, business owners, and influencers had invested in Soft Bar, Ben asked him if Kyle was “involved” in the business.
“Um, no,” Carl told Ben. “But to be honest, he’s got so much other s–t with Loverboy.”
In a confessional, he continued, “I invested $15,000 in 2019 in Loverboy. I didn’t have a lot of money back in 2019, but I just believed in him so much. And I knew the power of what he was building. I really felt like there was something there.”
As Carl concluded, “So, I had hoped maybe for the same in return, but he was, like, just not in a position to invest. The message it sends is kinda confusing.”