The Bravo TV network and one of its stars, Gary King, are being sued over an alleged sexual assault by a former makeup artist from the show.
CONTENT WARNING- SA
The claims:
TMZ obtained documents of Samantha Suarez‘s claims against Gary. “The Below Deck Sailing Yacht star tried to pressure her into sleeping with him when she was instructed to bring him a snack to his hotel room in 2022 … claiming when she tried to leave, the drunken star grabbed her, restraining her upper body and arms.”
“Suarez says she genuinely feared she was about to be raped and tried fighting him off. But she claims he slammed the door shut with both hands and his full weight, blocking her way out.
Suarez says her BF and work colleague, Grey Duddleston, reported the incident and Gary even admitted to it.” But, instead of the first officer of Parsifal III being fired,” she claims Duddleston was investigated for ‘inappropriate use’ of the walkie-talkie system.” That was before “she and Grey were both eventually fired and put on a ‘do not hire’ list.”
TMZ reported that Samantha is “suing for sexual battery, hostile work environment, retaliation, wrongful termination, and more … and is seeking big damages.”
ICYMI:
In October 2024, Samantha Suarez told Rolling Stone that Gary sexually assaulted her during the filming of season four. 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.”
It’s reasonable that anyone who has seen Gary’s behavior on-camera would make them wonder what he would do off camera. As a fan of Sailing Yacht, Gary gives me the ick and I was really hoping see a less toxic person in his place.
Please note … Bravo TV chose to air Gary throughout season 5 of BDSY despite the case against him. They didn’t have a reunion, even on WWHL. At the time, I clocked that it was probably because of the Gary mess that I think he and the network were hoping would sail away.
