Below Deck accused of covering up previous instances of sexual misconduct

Below Deck Down Under—the Australia-based spinoff of the popular Bravo reality show-on-a-fancy-boat Below Deck—recently made headlines for filming and airing disciplinary conversations between producers and two stars/yacht employees, both of whom were subsequently fired for sexual harassment. While the whole scenario brings up long-standing debates about the ethics of alcohol-soaked “reality” TV (similar to discourse happening around Scandoval earlier this year), the decision to break the fourth wall was generally lauded as a game-changing bit of transparency in an industry where that is sorely lacking.

For some, however, the move was too little, too late. In a lengthy Rolling Stone exposé published today, crew member (film crew, not boat crew/cast) Samantha Suarez alleged that cast member Gary King tried to force himself on her while filming spin-off Below Deck Sailing Yacht in 2022—and the show’s producers did not do enough to discipline him.

According to Suarez, during a confrontation where King was very drunk—from alcohol allegedly provided by producers—the cast member grabbed her from behind, pressed her to his body, and slammed the door. He eventually opened it when she received a call on her phone.

Suarez said she immediately disclosed the incident to producers and was told that King would be spoken to and fired if any other incidents occurred. She also wrote to the COO of the show’s production company, 51 Minds Entertainment, saying that she “honestly feel[s] quite traumatized by the whole situation,” and was subsequently appointed an HR representative for the rest of the season.

But later on, the HR rep allegedly asked her not to talk about the incident with other staffers because “it was becoming water cooler talk” and it seemed like she was “trying to rally the troops” against the show. When Suarez asked if she could talk about the incident with her colleagues at all, the rep allegedly told her she was “allowed” to, but it was discouraged.

King allegedly harassed other members of the crew as well

Rolling Stone also spoke with other anonymous members of the production crew, who made similar allegations against King. One alleged that they saw him grab a female cast member’s butt without her consent, but were ignored by producers when they reported it in the moment on their walkie-talkie. After a producer eventually did tell him to stop, King allegedly walked over to a camera operator and grabbed his genitals. “It was insane. There were multiple incidents of sexual harassment in front of multiple producers after this person had been given verbal warnings multiple times,” the crew member said. Another anonymous member of the team also added that King is “next-level scary with women.”

While King did not comment on Rolling Stone’s story, a Bravo spokesperson told the outlet: “We require our third-party production companies to have appropriate workplace policies and trainings in place and a clear process on how to report concerns. The concerns Ms. Suarez raised in July 2022 were investigated at that time and action was taken based on the findings.” 51 Minds also responded: “51 Minds provides mandatory harassment and sensitivity training for every series it produces at the outset of each new season and lays out a clear process on how and to whom to report any questionable activity.”

While it’s unclear if Suarez or any members of the Below Deck crew are involved, these incidents seem in line with a suit from two lawyers who are currently seeking to expose “the sordid and dark underbelly of NBC’s widely consumed reality TV universe.” Their first step, according to the lawyers, is ending many of their clients’ NDAs, so they are actually able to speak out about incidents like these.