Gary King, NBCUniversal and Bravo, among other entities, are being sued by two former Below Deck: Sailing Yacht crew members for sexual battery, gender violence, a hostile work environment, discrimination and retaliation.
Bryan Freedman and Mark Geragos, attorneys for Samantha Suarez, a hair and makeup artist, and Grey Duddleston, a camera operator, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging the pair were terminated and put on a “do not hire” list for speaking out about their accusations during season four of the reality show. The suit, which is the latest filing in a self-declared “Reality Reckoning” from Freedman and Geragos, also names Mountain View Productions, 51 Minds Entertainment and Endemol Shine.
In the complaint, Suarez claims she was working on Below Deck: Sailing Yacht season four in Sardinia in the summer of 2022 when she “was held hostage in a hotel room by Gary King, a longtime cast member, known drunkard, and serial harasser.”
When delivering snacks and water to his room on July 3, 2022, Suarez accused King of refusing to let her leave. “When she turned to leave, he lunged towards her, used his arms to grab her by her upper body, and restrained her with his tight grip around her body and arms. Suarez was terrified and instinctively screamed and fought to pry his grip loose so she could get away from him. Suarez managed to break free, ran towards the door and started to pull the door open when King, who was chasing her, got both his hands on the door and slammed it shut keeping her trapped, menacingly laughing and staring at her with evil dilated eyes. Suarez was sure she would be raped,” the complaint states. She claims a phone call from another crew member stopped King.
In the suit, Suarez said she reported the incident to 51 Minds, which produces Below Deck: Sailing Yacht, and that King admitted to what he had done. And he was allegedly given a warning that he would be fired if a similar incident happened again.
“Unsurprisingly, King engaged in further misconduct,” the complaint states. “Duddleston, Suarez’s then-boyfriend, witnessed King untie the bikini tops of two female cast members without their consent, make lewd remarks to a female audio technician, and grab the genitals of two male camera operators. Duddleston reported these incidents, per standard operating procedure, over the crew walkie-talkie system.”
The suit alleges that 51 Minds opened an investigation into Duddleston for “inappropriate use of the walkie-talkie system” rather than firing King. And when colleagues asked Suarez what happened, she told them the truth, according to the filing.
Suarez claims 51 Minds castigated her “for telling people she had been assaulted” when “51 Minds and NBC had not classified the incident as an assault and that Suarez was tainting the investigation.” She and Duddleston were later fired from the show and put “on a ‘do not hire’ list and remain virtually unemployable in their field,” while “King remains a centerpiece of the franchise,” the suit states. Season five of Below Deck: Sailing Yacht aired its season finale last month.
Bravo nor 51 Minds Entertainment responded to The Hollywood Reporter‘s request for comment. King also couldn’t be reached for comment.
Rolling Stone previously reported on Suarez’s allegations in August 2023, accusing Below Deck of covering up King’s sexual misconduct.
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