Former ‘Below Deck' Crew Members Sue Bravo, NBC for Allegedly Covering Up Star's Sexual Misconduct

Yahoo

26-02-2025

Former Below Deck crew members Samantha Suarez and Grey Duddleston are suing Bravo Media, NBCUniversal Media, the show's production company 51 Minds Entertainment, and Gary King, among others, claiming the network and production company behind the hit reality series covered up cast member King's alleged sexual misconduct.
In the complaint filed on Tuesday and exclusively obtained by Rolling Stone, Suarez and Duddleston accuse King of 'savaging' their reputations. '51 Minds and NBC have supported King every step of the way. But they know—just as he knows—that he is guilty as sin,' the complaint alleges.
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In the summer of 2022 while filming Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season Four, Suarez was employed as a hair and makeup artist and Duddleston was a camera operator. According to the complaint, when Suarez went to King's hotel room to drop off a case of water and snacks, he opened the door in his underwear and refused to take the water. Suarez claims she walked past King to put the water inside the room and on her way out, King allegedly lunged toward her and physically restrained her.
'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,' the complaint alleges. 'Suarez was sure she would be raped.'
Per the filing, another crew member called Suarez's cell phone as the incident was unfolding, and she was able to tap 'accept' to answer the call. King then allegedly released Suarez from his grip, and she was able to escape into the hallway. King, still clad only in his underwear, followed Suarez, grabbed her again from behind, and kept asking her what was wrong while he rubbed her back, the complaint claims.
Bravo, NBC, 51 Minds Entertainment, and King did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone's requests for comment.
According to the suit, Suarez immediately reported the incident to 51 Minds Entertainment, which then opened an investigation. The complaint alleges that King 'admitted what he had done' but was not fired. Instead, the complaint claims King was warned that he would be fired 'if something like that were to happen again.'
Duddleston, who was Suarez's boyfriend at the time, claims in the suit that following the incident between King and Suarez, he witnessed King untie two female cast members' bikini tops, 'make lewd remarks to a female audio technician,' and grab two male camera operators' genitals, all during the filming of Season Four. After reporting these incidents over the crew walkie-talkie system, Duddleston alleges 51 Minds and NBC opened an investigation into him 'for inappropriate use of the walkie-talkie system.' King, meanwhile, was asked back to film Season Five of Below Deck Sailing Yacht, which finished airing on Bravo in January. Despite working for different iterations of the Below Deck franchise, Suarez for two seasons and Duddleston for 11, neither crew member was asked to return to the show after NBC's investigation.
'On information and belief, they are now on a 'do not hire' list and remain virtually unemployable in their field,' the lawsuit alleges.
In addition to alleging sexual battery, assault, hostile work environment harassment, and false imprisonment as causes of action, Suarez and Duddleston — who are requesting a jury trial — are also suing over wrongful termination, retaliation, gender violence, discrimination, failure to prevent discrimination and harassment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The suit seeks compensatory, punitive or exemplary damages, attorneys' fees, and other relief.
Suarez and Duddleston are represented by attorneys Bryan Freedman and Mark Geragos, who have been working closely with Bethenny Frankel in a public campaign questioning the working conditions on reality shows. (In August of 2023, Freedman and Geragos sent a legal letter to NBC, the parent company of Bravo, accusing the network of covering up instances of sexual violence and using manipulative tactics, among other claims.)
'It looks like the business model [of Below Deck] is: Select talent that will do whatever they want, ply them with alcohol, trap them in an environment that is just desperate for drunk and outrageous behavior, and then bring on the ratings,' Geragos tells Rolling Stone.
While many of the highly publicized 'reality reckoning' lawsuits filed against Bravo have highlighted alleged mistreatment of cast members, Geragos claims Suarez and Duddleston's lawsuit 'focuses on what originally was the theme of these things, which was the exacerbating of the bad behavior in front of the camera and how this permeates the entire production.'
Rolling Stone first reported on the alleged incident between King and Suarez in August 2023, speaking with two other Below Deck crew members who worked with Suarez at the time. They claimed Suarez told them about the alleged encounter during filming. One of the crew members, who requested to remain anonymous at the time because they still worked on the series and feared repercussions, also alleged that they 'constantly' witnessed King making other women on set uncomfortable with his aggressive pursuit of them.
'He's next-level scary with women,' they said at the time.
Three other people who did not work for Below Deck spoke to Rolling Stone and claimed Suarez told them about the alleged incident with King at the time. Rolling Stone also reviewed emails between Suarez and Zach Klein, the chief operating officer of 51 Minds Entertainment, as well as between Suarez and an HR representative for Banijay America, the parent company of 51 Minds Entertainment, in which they discussed the incident.
At the time, a spokesperson for Bravo told Rolling Stone in 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 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.'
A spokesperson for Below Deck's production company 51 Minds Entertainment also said in a statement, '51 Minds is committed to providing an environment in which every member of the casts and crews on our productions feel respected and, most importantly, safe. 51 Minds provides mandatory harassment and sensitivity training for every series it produces at the outset of each new season and lays out a clear process on how and to whom to report any questionable activity.'
The statement continued, 'With any complaint filed, a timely investigation is launched and, based on the findings, appropriate actions are implemented to ensure the safety of our cast and crew, up to and including termination. 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.'
King filmed the fifth season of Below Deck Sailing Yacht in the summer of 2023, one year after Suarez reported King's alleged behavior. After Rolling Stone's story was published in August of 2023, King was removed from marketing materials and promotions for that year's BravoCon, Bravo's annual convention for fans and stars. The premiere of Season Five was also in limbo; while the show typically airs every spring, with the first four seasons starting in either February, March, or April, Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season Five eventually premiered on Bravo in October of 2024. According to Suarez's complaint, Bravo received backlash online for airing the season featuring King, and King then 'went on a rampage,' allegedly 'lambasting Suarez and Duddleston as liars, accusing them of having sought 15 minutes of fame.'
Geragos calls Bravo's decision to ultimately air Season Five and stand behind King 'inexplicable.'
'It's a brazen doubling down of not just bad but abhorrent behavior,' Geragos says. 'It's Bravo conferring immunity on whoever garners them the ratings. It seems to be, if you get enough clicks and enough eyeballs it doesn't matter what your behavior is.'
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