Gary King of ‘Below Deck Sailing Yacht’ Accused of Sexual Harassment

Today in news surprising to no one: notorious lech and star of Below Deck Sailing Yacht Gary King has been accused of sexual harassment by a makeup artist on the show. Samatha Suarez told Rolling Stone that King paid her unwanted attention throughout the filming of season 4, and when she continuously rejected those advances, he tried to force himself on her. She also claims that Bravo tried to cover it up.

I would argue that sexual harassment is King’s schtick. During the season in question, he was in a love triangle with cast mates Daisy Kelliher, with whom he’d shared a sexual history, and Colin Macrae. When Kelliher and Macrae became involved with each other, King got jealous, and could more than once be seen shoving Kelliher into various corners for drunken kisses. Then, after hooking up with another cast mate, Mads Herrera, he overheard that she was on her period, and confronted her about it on camera and in front of another cast member, screaming about “common decency.” So, yeah, this guy sucks, and it was only a matter of time before something rose to the level of serious allegations.

Producers on another Below Deck show, Below Deck Down Under were recently praised for their handling of a situation that could have potentially led to sexual assault, intervening before things could escalate. The BD franchise is run by a third-party production company, 51 Minds Entertainment. Bravo, the network that airs the shows, told Entertainment Tonight that they’re “committed to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for cast and crew.”

“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,” Bravo said in the official statement. They claim that Suarez’s allegations were investigated and “action was taken based on the findings.”

51 Minds elaborated on the supposed investigation by saying, “With regard to the incident reported by Ms. Suarez involving Mr. King, the case was investigated and reviewed as soon as it was submitted, and production acted accordingly based on the results.” How illuminating.

Suarez claims that the attempted attack was fueled by alcohol, the consumption of which is not monitored by production, and that when she told producers what happened, they assured her King would be fired if it happened again.

This is not the first time Below Deck has had issues with drunken sailors, and it probably won’t be the last.