'Below Deck' Star Gary King Accused of Sexual Misconduct, Ex-Staffer Claims Bravo Attempted Cover-up
Gary King was accused of forcing himself on a crew member in July 2022.
Aug. 24 2023, Published 6:54 p.m. ET
A former production staffer for Bravo's Below Deck Sailing Yacht accused the reality series of covering up sexual misconduct by a cast member, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Samantha Suarez claimed she was discouraged by an HR representative from speaking about alleged sexual misconduct from the show's star Gary King.
The ex-staffer accused King of sexual misconduct while filming in Sardinia, Italy.
Suarez first joined the production crew in the makeup department for Below Deck's tenth season. The former staffer told Rolling Stone that she was harassed by King before filming for the fourth season of the spin-off Below Deck Sailing Yacht.
Suarez accused King of trying to force himself on her in July 2022 while on assignment in Sardinia. The ex-staffer recalled being assigned to accompany King after he consumed a "substantial amount of alcohol" while filming that day.
Suarez said she was responsible for making sure the castmate made it back to his room at the DoubleTree hotel.
The ex-staffer accused King of making several advances after consuming excessive amounts of alcohol.
During their walk back, the former Bravo employee claimed that King told her she should get in his bed and asked her multiple times to stay in his room. Suarez said that when she left King and returned with food and water for him, the Bravo star allegedly answered the door wearing only his underwear and began forcing himself on her.
"At that point, I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was freaking out," Suarez said as she recalled King allegedly blocking her from leaving the room. "It just happened so fast."
Suarez said she was able to break free and ran out of King's hotel room.
King remained a current cast member on 'Below Deck Sailing Yacht.'
Immediately after the incident, the staffer went to the show's producers. Suarez claimed she made it clear that she no longer felt comfortable working with King and that executive producer Courtland Cox vowed to remove King as a cast member if another incident happened.
Suarez said things went south when an HR rep later "discouraged" her from discussing the allegations with other staffers. Moreover, the ex-Bravo staffer claimed the reality show retaliated against her and she wasn't asked back for production.
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Suarez said that after reporting King's behavior to the show's producers she was not asked to return for another season.
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Suarez claimed the rep told her not to talk about the incident because "it was becoming water cooler talk."
Bravo responded to the allegations with a statement reported by TheWrap, in which the network claimed "action" was taken following an investigation.
"Bravo is committed to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for cast and crew on our reality shows," the statement read. "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."
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