This 'Selling the OC' saga continues!
Coming out as straight… sometimes, that's a thing that happens!
The third season of Selling the OC featured out bisexual cast member Sean Palmieri claiming that two of his costars — Tyler Stanaland and Austin Victoria — had flirted with him and/or led him on in the past. Sean also alleged that Austin and his wife, Lisa, enjoyed "experimenting" in bed with things like "three-ways," "four-ways," and "flipping."
Even though Austin, Lisa, and Tyler all denied Sean's accusations on Selling the OC, some fans still questioned how they reacted and/or responded to each of the claims. On Monday, May 6, Austin broke his silence with a new Instagram post and once again denied what Sean said.
"Unfortunately I cannot reply to all your comments and DMs and so many of you have VERY strong opinions," Austin wrote in the caption. "It's not complicated, it's actually quite simple. Screen time!!! The last slide is the conversation on the night in question. As you can see, we were friends before AND after."
He continued: "There was no 'distancing' [because] of 'weird vibes.' In fact, the very next week, we made brochures together and went door knocking. We were friends for an entire year after this so-called 'kinky proposal.' I have the receipts!"
Austin continued his statement with text-based images included in this Instagram carousel:
"In response to the repeated DMs and comments, let me set the record straight..."
"First things first... Finish the entire season!!!" Austin added. "The lies start to fall apart and opinions change. The truth will always prevail."
Austin claimed that cast members on reality shows like Selling the OC are not paid if they aren't featured in an episode. Given how many times they told Sean throughout season 3 that he had yet to sell a property, Austin suggested that Sean "got desperate" to "pay the bills" and proceeded to "make anything up."
"The answer to most of your questions/accusations is simply screen time. In reality TV if you are not featured, you are not paid. When you quit your job and haven't sold a property in 2 years, you get desperate. Contrary to popular belief, reality TV doesn't pay the bills. In reality TV, you can quite literally make anything up and it's your word vs theirs. Scary stuff!"
Out has reached to Netflix regarding Austin's claim that reality TV cast members are not paid for episodes they were not featured in.
Austin's statement continued with a reference to "love is love," which he "agrees with," and highlighting that he has "LGBTQ+ friends" that he loves and supports.
"Love is Love! I agree with this 100%. I love my LGBTQ+ friends and I have and always will support them. Period," he wrote.
Considering that some of Sean's claims involved how Austin (and Tyler) engaged with him via texting and on social media, Austin also felt the need to clarify those interactions. The Selling the OC star wrote:
"I'm sorry but not sorry [because] the following does not mean I'm hitting on you, especially if we are good friends: double tapping your posts, sending heart emojis or complimenting your progress in the gym ('them legs')."
Austin went on to completely shut down any speculation concerning his sexual orientation and his relationship with Lisa being "open" or "experimental."
"Lastly, I'm a straight man." Austin's statement read. "I love my wife and we have never and will never 'experiment.' I can care less what you do in your personal life. Zero judgement here, do what makes YOU happy!"
He added: "If you are negative you will get blocked. I have no space in my life for negativity or your fantasies."
As mentioned in the caption, the last slide in this Instagram carousel included a screenshot of what appears to be a text message exchange between Austin and Sean. These alleged text messages read as follows.
Austin: "Park on the street. I'll come get you."
Sean: "Ok here."
On January 8, 2022 at 11:14 p.m., Sean allegedly sent a text that read: "You guys are so fun. Let's hang out more! Thanks for having me over." Austin responded to it with a heart reaction.
The next morning, at 10:48 a.m., Sean sent another alleged text that read: "Tyler said we can either go at like 2 or we can go from like 4-6 and put a couple lobster traps down."
Two days before Austin posted this new statement, his wife, Lisa, had already shared a few comments about this situation on her own Instagram. Lisa shared a video of herself, Austin, and their kids at the beach, which was accompanied by the caption:
"Selling The OC S3 Now Streaming (there is absolute ZERO veracity to the rumor, just a lunatic desperate for screen time) Cookie recipe coming soon though."
In the comments section under Lisa's Instagram post, a fan asked, "Why did your husband attend a swingers party and see Jarvis there in season 1?"
Lisa responded:
"We BOTH went to a Halloween party with some other people from the office. We ran into Jarvis leaving right as we were getting there. The party was weird [as f*ck] old creepy men with young scantily clad girls. If you rewatch that scene Austin was not the one that said it was a swinger party all he said was it was weird [because] it was.. but more like an escort type of way? [shrug emoji]."
No reunion special has been scheduled for the third season of Selling the OC. Moreover, a few cast members — namely, Sean and Tyler — are no longer working for the Oppenheim Group, which probably means that they're not coming back to the show if it is renewed for a fourth season.
Time will tell if Sean will also take to social media to respond to Austin's new statement, and/or if Tyler will chime in at all.
Selling the OC season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.