Jana Kramer’s recent ex: ‘Nobody’s actually friends with Jana, it’s manipulation’

Jana Kramer is back in the headlines, which is her favorite thing. Unfortunately, these are not the kind of headlines she was hoping for. To give you a brief timeline of this chaos: in April 2021, Jana and her serial philandering husband, Mike Caussian finally split. By June 2021, she was already in a new sketchy relationship. Sept 2021, that BF had vaporized and she began dating Jay Cutler, who was the ex-husband of her friend, Kristin Cavallari, someone who had comforted Jana during her divorce just four and half month prior. Jana and Jay failed to launch and by January of this year, Jana went Instagram official with Ian Schinelli. She was effusive about love sprouting from trauma and other floral bs.

Wednesday, we learned that Jana and Ian split at some point. Jana had begun her breakup victim rollout on her podcast with claims of betrayal. Ian flipped the switch by calling Jana out for controlling behavior and exposed the poor little me narrative she perpetuates. Jana made things worse by claiming an alliance with Ian’s ex-wife after only knowing the man for a few months (remember, he has a daughter). I guess Ian didn’t care for Jana saying she and his ex were friends because he went back to Us and said that “nobody’s actually friends” with Jana, it’s all just manipulation. And then he kept going.

A brief relationship with lasting effects. It’s been months since Jana Kramer was linked to Jay Cutler, but her friendship with Kristin Cavallari never recovered.

“They don’t have a relationship. They’re not friends,” Kramer’s ex-boyfriend Ian Schinelli told Us Weekly. “They had a falling out. … Nobody’s actually friends with [Jana]. It’s a manipulation tactic. It’s what she does. Again, she has reached out to people in my past and she has reached out to a lot of people in [her ex-husband] Mike’s past.”

Kramer dated Schinelli for six months, calling it quits last month.

“There is zero chance I’d get back with her. And I say that with a lot of love for her, I really do,” he told Us earlier this month. “You keep manipulating people the same way – friends or, you know, relationships. Therapy’s not working. … You’re telling therapists a certain version and they’re just responding into it that way. She has told me she has lied to literally every therapist she’s been with. So again, they can only do so much with it and work with what you’re giving her, but like it’s clearly not working. So don’t tell me that — because I broke up with you and walked away, you all of a sudden had [a] realization [of] what you were doing. So it doesn’t make any sense cause I’m sure she said that to everybody else.”

[From Us]

I generally accuse Jana of manipulating her fans. She baits them into asking about her business with leading statements and gossip in her podcast or social media. And her control issues became abundantly clear when she took Mike’s IG away from him and thought we wouldn’t notice. Plus, the concept of her and Mike being relationship coaches after what they’d claimed to have done to each other was simply a grift. But up until Ian, no one had produced receipts on Jana for her part in her own melodrama.

I’ll admit, I was here for Ian matching Jana at her own game. But this feels like he’s sunk to her level. I get that Ian’s trying to defend himself from Jana’s accusations. This big truth bomb he thinks he’s dropping about Jana not having friends is an attempt to discredit her claiming a friendship with his ex-wife. But we knew about her and Kristin ever since Jana and Jay’s first date and no one thought they’d repair that rift. Also, Ian may be trying to clear his name, but those comments about Jana and her therapists cross a line, even if they’re true. I know Ian says there’s ”zero chance” they’ll get back together, but maybe he and Jana were better suited for each other than we knew.

Photo credit: Instagram

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15 Responses to “Jana Kramer’s recent ex: ‘Nobody’s actually friends with Jana, it’s manipulation’”

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  1. Wiglet Watcher says:

    Sounds like he can still walk away. He’s not at her level yet, but if he keeps going, yes. He’s just trying to set the record straight as she’s likely reached out to all of his ex’s and family. I’m sure what is happening behind the scenes is tormenting.
    She’s been exposed. She can only flounder at this point.

  2. kgeo says:

    I don’t know, if you keep bringing up my name and my ex’s name in public, all bets are off. I’m still happily married, but I’d like to think that I’d never be okay with a 6 month fling publicly using the name of the person I share children with.

    • Melissa says:

      Right – why did he cross a line? If she’s a manipulator and narcissist, or BPD (yes, I’m a Psych), why wouldn’t he spill the beans?

      If anything he may be saving the next victim, and as the above said clearing his name. I don’t believe he’s in the wrong here.

  3. Mindy_Dopple says:

    I don’t think he crossed a line either. I’m this type of person, when I’m pushed to the limit the truth comes out in a harsh way. That’s all he’s doing is setting the record straight. It is VERY weird that she reaches out to people in her love interests pasts.

  4. KBeth says:

    I believe him. Jana just seems so pathetic.

  5. girl_ninja says:

    Jana is messy and selfish. I don’t think she’s ever received serious therapy from the abuse she’s endured. I wonder if she will ever get the help she needs?

  6. Lily says:

    I couldn’t stand her character on One Tree Hill. It’s not her fault, it was the writing

  7. Kait says:

    I actually think he’s making a valid point about white womanhood (although I doubt he realizes it). There’s a lot about these type of women (Jana, Rachel Hollis) that they paint as aspirational but none of it is real. They market themselves as having figured out a cheat code to success but the truth is they have hollow relationships and the rest is all smoke and mirrors.

  8. Isabel says:

    I don’t see how he crossed a line either? I had a (ex) friend that admitted to lying to their therapist. Took me years but I finally realized they were manipulative and would never be able to be there for me the way I was there for them. Sometimes people are really good at being performative, it sucks

  9. Luna17 says:

    I think he is spot on. She can’t be alone, all her self esteem is wrapped up in a man, she is manipulative, she needs help. He has a right to his side. I feel bad for her kids. I wish she could focus on herself and her kids and not relationship jump.

  10. Blue Nails Betty says:

    Two things about me:

    1. My bs meter is super fine tuned. I can spot it long before they realize they screwed up. So I’ve got no time for people who lie and manipulate.

    2. You try to use/harm my friends or family you’ve got to go through me and that ain’t happening.

    Ian is right to call her on her sleazy behavior any time she tries it with him or his family.

  11. Kahlia says:

    I’m all for him standing up for himself as much as he wants to, because she is famous, he is not, and she used her power to publicly humiliate him as punishment. I’m a feminist and I’m all for equal women’s rights. In the spirit of equality, I’m all for calling out terrible women who make everything worse for us. And that also means I’m all for men getting equal rights in areas where there are inequalities, like emotional abuse. Women emotionally abuse men ALL. THE. TIME. Call those parasitic whiners out, because they make our quest for equality harder. If a man did this to a woman and treated her this way, women would be angry as hell. But for a man to be emotionally abused and to refuse to let her slander him publicly (when he didn’t want to be in the spotlight at all and wanted his privacy originally), we give him the side eye, like “Oh, take the high road, turn the cheek. Just take it quietly.” Treating him the exact way men expect women to take it when men abuse physically and emotionally. Um. No. I will never agree with that.

    My husband was emotionally abused by his ex wife. If I so much as get even slightly annoyed with him, he acts like a kicked dog. The guy looks like a football player. His ex was a tiny Korean girl. He has the biggest heart, was so in love with her and she destroyed him with her manipulations and abuse. He still has a lot of trauma from it.

  12. Mina_Esq says:

    You can’t reason with toxic people. The best thing to do is to walk away and never look back. All he is doing here is indirectly engaging with her, which will likely result in a reconciliation and proclamations of twin flame struggles or whatever the f*ck these immature people tell themselves before they break up again. It must be sooooo exhausting being Jana. I wish she could get the help she needs so she can have some peace and genuine happiness.

  13. Bash says:

    Based on her past behaviour, I’m inclined to believe that what he’s saying is absolutely true. Her issues run deep, so I’m not surprised to hear any of it.
    It seems she’s going to therapists only to justify her own actions, and not to make changes on her side of things, so it’s no wonder she hasn’t made much progress in developing healthy relationships. I understand that she’s been through some very bad experiences, so the blame isn’t solely on her, but it does seem that she’s always focused on blaming the other person and painting them to be the bad guy, while placing herself as the victim.
    I think Ian has a right to speak up for himself to protect his reputation, since she has spoken publicly about him. I do hope she gets proper help to be able to develop trusting relationships, because this seems like such a stressful way to live.