It was a heated confrontation between Austen Kroll and JT Thomas in the Southern Charm Season 9 finale that some viewers found so satisfying. Finally, somebody was confronting the Pillows and Beers podcast host. The fight was even more intense than most, because it appeared that the Southern Charm newbie headbutted Austen.
The actual first point of contact was addressed during the Season 9 reunion. JT was coming in hot the whole time, much to Austen’s bemused annoyance. Craig Conover and Shep Rose were there to back their bestie, so the Season 9 newbie was very much on his own in this battle.
JT and Austen have a different version of events
It was questionable why JT got so heated towards Austen, though it seems he was looking to provoke him. Bringing up his romance with Taylor Ann Green and looking for an “aha” moment during which Austen would admit all his shortcomings seemed a fruitless effort.
JT knelt on a bar stool so he could square up to the Pillows and Beer podcast co-host. As the exchange got more heated, Austen pushed JT, who lost his balance on the bar stool. He approached Austen again in an aggressive manner, this time at his own height. At that point, it’s unclear whether there was another point of contact. Austen claimed that JT headbutted him.
During the second half of the Season 9 reunion, both participants in that fiasco had their say. And us viewers are none the wiser regardless.
“I halfway attribute it to him getting a rejection,” Austen opined on whether JT was heated because he had been rejected by Taylor moments before. “If I wasn’t here, do you think you and Taylor would be together?”
JT had a different version of events, and he denied any wrongoing. He also denied that his conversation with Taylor prior had any negative effect on him in the moment.
The Virginia native explained, “I was in the bar. You came in and you pushed me first. You gotta bifurcate my love for Taylor and my disdain for your toxicity. I called you out for being a sh*tbag for the whole season. Taylor has nothing to do with this. You have everything to do with calling you out.”
Austen suggested that JT would have his own less-than-stellar reputation if he was on the show longer. It comes down to the dirt getting out eventually.
“Buddy, it’s your first season, so nobody knows what a piece of sh*t you are,” he said. “Don’t hide behind the fact that you just called yourself a gentleman 38 times and you think that that means you’re a gentleman.”
As far as the headbutt, JT denied it to host Andy Cohen.
“No, I said, ‘Your friends don’t trust you.’ You overheated, pushed me once, then again,” JT explained.
“JT, you were in my face and you said, ‘I’m in your face. I’m in your face now,'” Austen interjected.
Naturally, Craig and Shep came to their buddy’s defense. The Sewing Down South founder defended Austen’s actions, saying, “If someone did that to me I would knock them [out].”
Shep added, “JT was pretty aggressive in that moment and sort of forced Austen’s hand.”
It doesn’t look like producers are playing any disciplinary action for what happened. And it’s still not clear whether JT headbutted Austen, so perhaps we will never know. The more pressing question remains whether this conflict will continue next season.
Catch Season 9 of Southern Charm now streaming on Peacock.
TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED DURING THE FIGHT? ARE YOU TEAM AUSTEN OR JT? WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO THEIR COMMENTS AT THE REUNION?
