Austen Kroll Doesn't Think He Led Lindsay Hubbard On

Will Austen Kroll ever decide to simply *not* gaslight a woman with clear interest in him? Talk about an insecure straight man who’s never learned how to manage the female gaze. It’s very embarrassing to watch this side-part jump from woman to woman like a kid in a candy shop. Act like you’ve been pursued before. Or at least learned how to navigate very basic dating dilemmas.

I knew it was going to be bad when Austen was caught on film following a threesome and his strategy was to blame his girlfriend at the time, Madison LeCroy. The “fame” was starting to sink in. Now we’re hearing he told Lindsay Hubbard he wanted to date her on a New Years Even call? Being altered for the holiday is hardly an excuse for a person over the age of like, 19?? Can the guy be accountable to anything besides one flavor of beer his parents funded in his image?

Despite having about one thing on his plate, Austen is claiming to be very busy right now. He recently told Entertainment Tonight, “I have so much going on right now, I’m filming Southern Charm and there’s a lot of things happening — and Lindsay definitely has been a part of my life. I would certainly like to mend, but what would have to happen at that point is it’s like a different type of friendship. It’s not the, like, waking each other up in the morning with phone calls kind of friendship or coming to my Watch What Happens [Live]. Or vice versa. … I think that the friendship would just move in a different direction, right?” Okay so he’s finally catching on. I hope his glasses aren’t fooling anyone. This took him several months and a collective internet dragging for the last lamb to figure out.

Austen assured everyone that he would never toss his dear friend Hubbs out. He explained, “I would never say to throw away a friendship unless it really was awful or toxic, but if she thinks that I’m not a good friend, then I just hope she comes around.” How about try just being a good friend? Is that really so hard?

Despite admitting that his friendship with Lindsay was complicated, Austen still seemed vexed how the hook-up vibes caused confusion. “I think that we’re one way and she thinks that we’re another way,” he said. “And of course it’s my fault that I thought that it was this way. I’m just used to getting blamed for all this stuff at this point in time. It’s like, come on. You know? I didn’t ask for that… I would hate to think that I led her on because it’s certainly not what I did, or my intention.” Okay but that’s literally what you did though…

RELATED: Austen Kroll Hopes Madison LeCroy Is “Capable Of Keeping Her Insults To A Minimum”

During Winter House fans saw Lindsay explain her confusion with Austen when she shared he had promised to date her on New Years Eve. Austen explained, “I was with another person and enjoying myself, so I was not calling up Linds then and telling her that we should date and all this stuff.” Not the defense he probably thinks it is. Austen claims he was getting psyched for a Phish concert when he called Lindsay.

“Things were not going well with my now-ex. I was like, ‘My love life is in shambles, Linds. Maybe we should just date.’ And if you haven’t called up your best friend at some point and been like, ‘Maybe we should just cut through all the bulls**t and maybe it’d be easier if you and I just dated…’ And that’s what it was. I’m sure that I was like, ‘Linds, I love you. 2020 is the year.’ I don’t know.” The fact that he’s calling a fellow Bravo-leb from a completely different show his “best friend” is a lot. So was all the obvious flirting we saw during the early FaceTime calls on Winter House. Who is he trying to kid?

Despite claiming it’s very normal to want to date your best friend, Austen had some judgement about the way Lindsay carries herself in a “friendship.” He tried to make her look thirsty saying, “If I come into the city, it’s like, ‘Come over. Come over. Come over. Come over. Come over. And I’m like, ‘Linds, I’m doing my own thing over here. If you’d like to meet for happy hour, I’d love to do that.'”

So there you have it. Either meet Austen to get drunk, agree to discuss a romantic relationship with him when you’re “only just friends”, or get out of his life, I guess.