On Summer House Season 10, Kyle Cooke opened up about his financial woes, and during Episode 8, he revealed his beverage brand, Loverboy, is on the brink of bankruptcy.
“I have an investor call tomorrow. We have to talk about how long we can last based on our current cash reserves,” he told West Wilson during the March 24 episode. When West inquired about the timeline, Kyle candidly answered, “Six months at most.”
Elsewhere in the Summer House episode, Ben Waddell offered more clues about Loverboy’s troubles in a conversation with West, Jesse Solomon, and Ciara Miller.
“I didn’t realize, but, [Kyle is] personally on the hook for Loverboy. Like millions of dollars,” Ben revealed. “He personally guaranteed a $4 million loan because Loverboy was doing well and it was going up. And there’s $2.1 million left on the loan. So if Loverboy tanks, then he’s bankrupt and he’s lost everything… What must be going through his head 24/7 at the moment is, ‘If Loverboy’s bankrupt, I’m bankrupt also.’”
Kyle Cooke opens up about Loverboy’s financial challenges
In case you need a refresher, Kyle first founded the Loverboy drink brand in 2018. Over time, it’s developed from alcoholic beverages, to include non-alcoholic drinks, spritzes, a canned espresso martini and even THC-infused non-alcoholic sodas.
Kyle’s troubles with Loverboy have been a theme throughout Season 10. In Episode 2, he explained the difficulty of trying to enjoy a vacation with his friends while his financial uncertainty was lurking in the back of his mind.
“When I’m catching up with you, and I’m catching up with friends, I’m not gonna unload on them weekend one, and just be like, ‘Oh by the way, to save my business, I had to put $500,000 in. Oh, by the way, I stopped paying myself a salary at Loverboy, so that’s one of the reasons I started DJ’ing, to pay the bills,’” he shared with Carl Radke in Episode 2. “But that’s what I’ve been up to these last couple months.”
In the same episode, Kyle also revealed he hadn’t taken a salary for about nine months. “In the last six months, we’ve actually seen a decline in distribution, which means declines in revenue. So, I stopped taking a salary at Loverboy to kind of prolong our cash reserves,” he told producers.
RELATED: Kyle Cooke Reveals the Minimum Bid to Invest in Loverboy: “I Could Not Afford That”
On Jan. 28, he took to Instagram to share that Loverboy’s money problems “continue to be a huge source of stress” in his life. “Beverage alcohol is not easy because you have all of the regulations to think about,” he said at the time. “But right now, we’re just hoping people continue to support the brand as we kind of transition and pivot a little bit.”
Kyle Cooke explains why he didn’t invest in Carl Radke’s business, Soft Bar
When Kyle first launched Loverboy, Carl invested in the brand to support his friend. When Carl later launched his own venture, a non-alcoholic bar called Soft Bar, he expected his longtime friend to reciprocate the support. However, Carl revealed in Episode 5 that Kyle chose not to invest in Carl’s bar.
“I invested $15,000 in 2019 in Loverboy,” Carl shared with producers. “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. 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.”
When Ben brought up Kyle’s lack of investment during Episode 6, Kyle defended his decision. “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.'”
RELATED: Amanda Batula Addresses Rumors She’s “Taking Half” of Loverboy
Instead, Kyle mentioned that he joined Soft Bar’s advisory board, and shared his crowdfunding campaign. But when Jesse pressed the issue, and hinted that Carl was “upset,” Kyle admitted he was “blindsided.”
“I could not have been more clear in December about why I wasn’t in a position to invest,” he told producers. “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.”
Don’t miss Amanda teasing the new dynamics on the upcoming Bravo show In The City with Kyle and Lindsay Hubbard.
