22-05-2025
Donald Trump's Tariffs Could Collide With Bravo's 'Summer House'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
"Summer should be fun," but for Summer House star Kyle Cooke, this summer could bring another black swan event with the potential to upend his company, Loverboy.
President Donald Trump's announcement of additional tariffs on over 50 countries sparked the worst decline in the stock market since the COVID-19 pandemic and raised concerns about a recession, increased layoffs and higher inflation. In April, he attempted to calm the markets by announcing a 90-day pause on tariffs, which means the resumption of tariffs could collide with the filming of Summer House Season 10.
Fans have watched for years as the stress of running a business impacted Cooke, and the timing of filming means fans may be able to watch the pressure Trump's tariffs put on small businesses play out in real time.
Cooke told Newsweek he's concerned about the impact of tariffs on Loverboy's ability to keep prices competitive. With premium ingredients and the hype around the new drink brand, consumers were willing to spend a little more for Loverboy when it first came out. But now there are alternatives, and in an economy where people don't have a lot of disposable income, having to raise prices threatens to undo all of the work Cooke has done to make Loverboy a success.
"I don't quite understand how tariffs are the big equalizer on trade because it just gets passed on to the little guy like me and then you're left with the decision, do I erase all of the gains we've made to get our product more competitively priced? Do we erase those gains and jack the prices up?" Cooke told Newsweek. "It's a big fricking conundrum."
Loverboy is an American brand canned in the United States, so Cooke is in a better place than someone who has to import a finished product. However, increased tariffs on aluminum could increase his costs, and a key ingredient in Loverboy is monk fruit. They use it instead of artificial sweeteners and import it from Canada, making it subject to tariffs.
Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty
While Cooke is trying to plan for the future, he said that at this point, it's just a game of wait and see because of how the administration has handled tariffs.
"It felt very rushed. And every single week you hear something different so no one can respond or react," Cooke said. "By the time you do, Trump's already changed his mind."
Cooke first presented the idea of Loverboy to Summer House viewers in 2018, but it took a few years to get it off the ground and into stores. Had he known how difficult the alcohol industry is and how unfriendly it is to startups, would he have still had the courage to build the brand?
He said probably not, and that stress has played out on the show.
During the pandemic, Cooke and his now-wife, Amanda Batula, ran Loverboy out of the Hamptons house where the cast was quarantining together for the summer to film the show. Loverboy and the stress of getting it off the ground was a huge storyline, and in the following season, Cooke revealed that he was feeling crushed by the weight of his lawsuit.
"I've spent $200,000 on legal fees this month. I'm $4 million in debt with the loan for my business. Everything is on the line," Cooke told his housemates in season 6.
Cooke later broke down while speaking with castmate Danielle Olivera, telling her that every day for the last three years has been stressful.
Despite the stress, Loverboy started to thrive. For years, the business was profitable despite the alcohol industry being so "dog-eat-dog," as Cooke puts it. But that stress returned in season 8 when Cooke revealed that the company was losing money.
And by "losing money," Cooke meant the company lost $1.5 million in the first six months.
"If we can't turn a profit in August, then I'm starting to lose hope that we'll do it in the colder months. This is the first time I'm actually scared," Cooke told Batula in one episode.
Loverboy hasn't had a hit from the tariffs yet because they've stockpiled cans and ingredients before the tariffs hit. But, Cooke noted it's "only a matter of time" until they feel the impact.
Over the years, Cooke has been in the middle of several black swan events. During the pandemic, there was a huge can shortage. Then, in 2023, it was the fallout from the Dylan Mulvaney collaboration with Bud Light. Loverboy is predominantly distributed by an independent Anheuser-Busch distributor, and the massive drop in Bud Light's sales revenue impacted Anheuser-Busch's operations.
"We've just seen one kind of black swan event after another and the question is, are tariffs yet another black swan event to hit an industry that is highly sensitive to price changes," Cooke told Newsweek.
