Nick Viall and his wife faced backlash last month over a podcast with Southern Charm star Austen Kroll. During the episode, they questioned the reality star about the tragic death of his nine-year-old sister, leaving him visibly uncomfortable. Now, it has been confirmed that Nick privately apologized to Austen.
Austen Kroll received an apology after his controversial Viall Files interview
To recap, Austen appeared on The Viall Files with Nick and Natalie Viall earlier this year. As well as chatting about his time on Southern Charm, they quizzed Austen on his past. This included the heartbreaking death of his sister, Kyle. During a family holiday in 1997, she fell from a cliff and passed away. This prompted Natalie to ask: “What is this cliff?”
The podcast hosts were heavily criticized in response to the episode, with many calling them out for being so insensitive. Nick and Natalie are yet to apologize publicly for the episode in question, but it has been revealed they’ve since reached out to Austen privately.
Speaking on Page Six Radio, fellow Southern Charmer Salley Carson said: “They both called him and apologized.”
“I do think there should be a public apology for sure,” she added. “I think that it needed to be a lot bigger,” Salley added of the apology. “I’m kind of like, are y’all not wanting to [publicly] apologize because you don’t really want to admit that it was wrong?”
Sharing her own thoughts on the podcast interview, Salley admitted, “It honestly kind of broke my heart for him.”
She continued: “I called him to see if he was OK because I’m like, ‘I am so sorry that must have been so hard’.”
“I could tell he was uncomfortable because his leg was shaking,” Salley added. “I’ve been friends with him for a while, and I haven’t asked [about Kyle]. That’s something that I feel like he should bring up when he feels comfortable.”
Southern Charm is streaming on Peacock.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK NICK AND NATALIE SHOULD MAKE A PUBLIC APOLOGY TO AUSTEN OVER THEIR PODCAST EPISODE?
