Gary King broke his silence after a Below Deck production member accused him of sexual misconduct — but quickly deleted his comments.
King took to social media on Thursday, August 24, to address Samantha Suarez‘s claims about his unwanted advances while filming season 4 of Below Deck Sailing Yacht.
“It’s so weird, it’s also so far from the truth. She always wanted a platform and unfortunately I’m the unlucky target,” he wrote in his Instagram comments section after viewers questioned the Rolling Stone exposé, which was published earlier that day.
King claimed Suarez was not being honest about their interactions behind the scenes, adding, “I’m not going to let some lying girl get to me… read that article fully, multiple times, and this happened to her on multiple seasons … seems odd.”
After “liking” several supportive messages, King slammed allegations from unnamed crew members who accused him of repeatedly making other women uncomfortable on set.
“Please tell me who I’ve harassed from bd … if I did I’m sure they would have said something and not some random person,” King continued. “Please can you tell me where I have sexually harassed multiple women … you’re watching the wrong show pal.”
Suarez and other former employees, who asked to remain anonymous, told Rolling Stone that Bravo allegedly helped cover up King’s inappropriate behavior.
“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,” they claimed. “I had to promote and make this guy who just assaulted someone look awesome. That was my job, to make this person look cool, capable, and exciting.”
Bravo issued a statement responding to the allegations, telling the outlet, “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.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Below Deck’s production company, 51 Minds Entertainment, added, “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.”
Suarez also accused Below Deck’s Ross McHarg of making lewd comments toward her while filming season 10 of Below Deck. After alerting Bravo about her experience with King, Suarez was put in contact with an HR representative and a counselor. Suarez, however, wasn’t happy with the producers for allowing King to continue filming. She was also asked not to return to the show, which she felt was in retaliation for her speaking out.
“You’re an executive producer on the show and you’re not even worried that your cast member put his hands on me and is being a creep currently while being on TV?” she added. “Somebody shouldn’t be able to keep a platform for being a gross creep.”
