Will Charlie Zakkour become the next celebrity to fall victim to a Damon Dash diss track? If he keeps up his inappropriate comments about the music mogul’s daughter, Ava Dash, it very well could happen.
Ava, who stars alongside the crypto trader in Bravo’s Next Gen NYC, stopped by DECIDER’s studio earlier this week to dish on the hit show’s sophomore season. While discussing her friendship status with Zakkour in the Season 2 premiere episode, the budding model said his “disrespectful” comments about her body in the first season, which aired last summer, left her feeling uncomfortable, particularly when her dad watched the show back.
“Oh, he was not a fan,” Ava said of Damon’s reaction to Zakkour’s crass remarks. “He did have a convo with Charlie where he was like, ‘No more of that.’”
Despite Zakkour’s bad-boy ways and seamless ability to wind up in drama, Ava said he did a better job at respecting her boundaries this season. “If you give him a boundary, he’ll stay within it. Or at least that’s my experience with him,” she said. “He’s definitely cooled out a lot.”
Ava, for her part, will be showing much more of her life in Next Gen NYC Season 2. When DECIDER caught up with New York City’s “it girl,” she opened up about her eviction notice, her drama with Gia Giudice, and those romance rumors surrounding her and Summer House icon Kyle Cooke. Check out the full interview below!
DECIDER: Ava, we’re so excited to talk to you all about Next Gen NYC Season 2. Last season, your castmates were a bit critical of you being absent. Will we see more of you this season?
AVA DASH: Yes, you’ll definitely see a lot more of me this season. I think I was a little bit scared last season to just open up and be vulnerable. That was scary to me, but this season I’ve really tried my best to open up and be there more/ I think you guys will really enjoy it or I hope you do.
It seems like you and Georgia have grown really close. What can you say about the evolution of your friendship with her?
I think she’s such a quirky, funny girl. She cracks me up, so I think we naturally just kind of gravitated towards each other. I love rewatching the episodes and like, seeing our funny little dynamic and our banter.
The big topic in the premiere episode is Ariana and Hudson’s breakup. You and Georgia both thought it was PR for the show. Why do you think they would fake a breakup for publicity? And where do you stand in that debate now?
For me at that time, I just didn’t know Ariana very well. I didn’t know anything about the ins and outs of her relationship. All I saw was that the day we started filming, they posted a breakup announcement. To me, it just seemed like interesting timing. And so that’s why I thought possibly it could be like a storyline type of thing. But now that I’ve gotten closer with Ariana and I understand how everything was going for the two of them, I absolutely know that it wasn’t a fake breakup.
You and Georgia were the first to bring up Charlie living at the crypto torture house. What was your reaction to seeing Charlie in the news when that all went down?
I was so surprised. At that time, Charlie and I weren’t really talking that much, so I had no idea really what he was up to. To see those images, I was very surprised.
Charlie’s Bravo bio says he’s trying to keep the peace, that he’s a reformed bad boy, and that he wants to remain drama-free. How do you think he did this season?
He’s definitely not drama free, so we can’t give him that. But he did try. I think he’s a lot more able to own up to his stuff this season and he tries to be a little bit softer and a little bit more friendly.
You talked about the comments Charlie made about your body last season. What was your dad’s reaction to watching that?
Oh, he was not a fan. He did have a convo with Charlie where he was like, “No more of that.” And I will say, Charlie is someone that can respect a boundary. If you give him a boundary, he’ll stay within it. Or at least that’s my experience with him. So he’s definitely cooled out a lot.
We appreciated your honesty when it came to the eviction notice. How did that all unfold? And were you planning to be so upfront about it on the show?
Honestly, I didn’t really have a plan with how I was going to address it. I was just doing my confessionals and producers asked me about it, so I was like, “You know what? I guess this is my time.” I’m not usually someone that will comment on a headline, especially if it’s about my family or something that has to do with my family. I just let it kind of ride out. But I just figured I have this platform and people are curious and they want me to open up, so I’m gonna, and hopefully they respond well to it. And so far they have, so I’m glad that I was honest about it. My dad knew it was coming. If your landlord’s not getting the total amount of rent, you might get a notice.
You said you think the rumors that come out about you and your family are funny. What’s the craziest false rumor you’ve ever read or heard?
There are so many things. I don’t even know. Every day, there’s just always something, especially with my dad. I feel like my dad likes to kind of troll online, and people take it seriously a lot. And so it’s funny to see how serious people take him when he’s just joking. Like, right now he has a viral song, a diss track, out. And I think people are really taking it too seriously when in reality he’s like at home laughing. He just wants to have a good time.
There was some drama between you and Gia in the premiere episode. You were upset that Gia accused you of lying when you said Teresa unfollowed you on Instagram. How did you realize that Teresa had stopped following you? And have you gotten to talk to her about the situation at all?
Yes. I just opened Instagram and I saw that she had followed me and I was like, “Oh, cool.” I went to follow her back and it didn’t say that anymore. So I was like, “Oh, okay, I see what’s happening.” I was already in a weird place with the group. I just figured, like, “Alright, people must be talking about me and like going to my page. And she probably, like, followed and unfollowed by accident.” But it made me just feel like everyone was talking badly about me. And it was like another thing in this group of friends that was making me kind of feel like I wanted to isolate myself from the group rather than get closer. That’s why I originally had brought it up in my confessional. It was never to tear anyone down or never expected it to drag on to Season 2. I just didn’t want to be called a liar by someone that I consider a friend, and all I wanted was her to apologize for it. In the second episode, you’ll see I showed the receipts so she knew I wasn’t lying. Yeah, I met Teresa at Bravo Con and she was the absolute sweetest. And she was like, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” And I was like, “Trust me, I don’t think you did that on purpose. And I’m so sorry it blew up like this. It was not my intention.”
How are you and Gia doing today?
Today, we’re fine. I thought we were in such a good place after filming Season 2 and visiting her family in the Bahamas and like all this stuff. To hear how she spoke about me recently was honestly very hurtful. But she’s apologized and so I’m not going to hold a grudge. I don’t talk about my friends like that, so it was just something that really took me by surprise.
What else can you tease about this season?
There’s so much that happens this season. We go to BravoCon, we go skiing. I feel like when we go on trips like you bond a lot with the people. So I feel like there’s just so many silly moments coming up that I’m just really excited to watch back and see it from other people’s perspectives. There’s so much tea that happens. A lot of romantic tea ends up happening this season, so I’m curious and I can’t wait to watch it. I’m so excited for everyone to see.
Word on the street is you’ve been hanging out with Kyle Cooke. Is there anything you can say about that?
Oh. We have randomly become in the same friend group and we have been hanging out a lot in group settings. Honestly, I think he’s so much fun, he always takes the aux cord, and he’s always deejaying, and he kills it. We just always have the best time. Yeah, it’s a lot of fun.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Next Gen NYC airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.
