Are we not going to talk about Gary King returning to Below Deck Sailing Yacht after allegations of misconduct?
Content warning: SA!
The first officer of Parsifal III, Gary King, was accused of sexual misconduct.
Former makeup artist, Samantha Suarez, told Rolling Stone that Gary sexually assaulted her during the filming of season four of the spinoff. She alleged King attempted to coerce her into staying in his room while drunk. She didn’t comply. Later, it was alleged Gary “refused to let go of her even though she says she tried to kick and elbow him to get him off her.”
Suarez reported the assault to the producers of the show the next day. King was then removed from the hotel and slept on the yacht while not shooting. HR later arranged for Samantha to have counseling, but asked her not to speak to other members of the production team about the assault.
Samantha claimed producers offered to fire Gary King from BDSY. But, they left the decision up to her. She didn’t feel that was an appropriate decision for her to make.
Corporate entered the chat:
Of course, there was a statement. “Bravo is committed to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for cast and crew on our reality shows.”
“We require our third-party production companies to have appropriate workplace policies and trainings in place.” Also, “a clear process [in place] 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.”
The show’s production company stated, “the case was investigated and reviewed as soon as it was submitted.” Additionally, “Production acted accordingly based on the results.”
Bad rep:
Other members of the production team corroborated that King is known on set for his bad behavior. A source told Rolling Stone, Gary is “next-level scary with women.” He is reported to have grabbed women inappropriately and not taken producers’ orders to stop seriously. “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.”
