Below Deck Down Under‘s Captain Jason would like viewers to have more empathy in the aftermath of Luke Jones and Laura Bileskalne’s consent scandal.
“Thank you for all the lovely messages and I have great sympathy for the messages for those that were triggered by these episodes,” he captioned an Instagram video on Wednesday, August 9. “I applaud the production team and crew, and I sincerely hope that all parties involved use this time to reflect and use this opportunity to not only change, but help others.”
Jason added: “Everyone has the chance in life to grow, learn from experiences either good or bad and become the best humans. Respect Boundaries.”
During the Bravo show’s newest episodes, which aired on Monday, August 7, Luke entered Margot Sisson‘s room naked before production removed him. Jason and Aesha Scott ultimately stepped in and had Luke stay in a hotel until the next morning when he was fired. Laura was also let go after showing support for Luke — and for her unwelcome advances toward deckhand Adam Kodra.
In his message to fans on Wednesday, Jason also included a video where he spoke about his hopes for Luke and Laura.
“Hi everybody, I’m sure you’re digesting episode six and seven as I am. I’ve had a flood of messages over the last 24 hours from people in similar situations, some not so lucky of the outcome, so my heart goes out to them,” Jason said in the clip. “I like to thank the production team for breaking the fourth wall, and stepping in. Then reforming and allowing Aesha to come to me in an authentic manner and us dealing with it as we would as captain and crew.”
The captain continued: “I don’t know what goes on when crew go out, I am not told. If it’s inadequate behavior, production would inform me. But unless a crew member complains of anything — like Adam — I wouldn’t know. And as soon as Aesha brought it to my attention, I addressed it straight away.”
Jason concluded by reminding fans to spread “less hate” and “more love,” adding, “Look this happened over a year ago and again I’ll stress the people involved are all, hopefully, on a better journey to better themselves.”
Before the sophomore season debuted, Jason hinted at a dramatic firing, exclusively telling Us Weekly in July, “People seem to think I’m a little bit lenient. I will allow errors in potential areas of growth and inexperience. I’ll justify and continue on and try and build someone in that department, but there is a level of respect and decency and that a crew member has to keep. There is a line in the sand that’s gotta be there for all of us to go forward and you’ll see that come up.”
In response to the shocking episode, fellow Below Deck star Captain Sandy took to social media to praise Jason and Aesha. “Respect to @CaptJChambers and Aesha. This was a tough, but important, watch. And kudos to production for taking action to protect crew,” she tweeted on Tuesday, August 8.
Margot, for her part, publicly thanked Aesha for being by her side during the incident.
“The way she recognized the vulnerability of the situation I was in and her courageous intervention on my behalf was both heroic and so admirable,” the stew wrote via Instagram on Tuesday. “I thank the universe for her every day, as well as the producers who quickly stepped in. Aesha, you have a heart of gold, I look up to you, and I will forever be grateful.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
