Reading Time: 3 minutes
Bravo has been hit by another lawsuit.
In a legal complaint filed on February 25, Below Deck hair and makeup artist Samantha Suarez and camera operator Grey Duddleston allege that Below Deck Sailing Yacht cast member Gary King “held [Suarez] hostage in a hotel room” while filming Season 4 of this franchise in July 2022.
According to the complaint, Suarez went to King’s hotel room at one point to drop off a case of water and snacks.
King then opened the door in his underwear and refused to take the water.
Suarez writes that she walked past King to place the item 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 document reads.
“Suarez was sure she would be raped.”
King, Bravo, NBCUniversal, Mountain View Productions, 51 Minds, 51 Minds Entertainment, Endemol Shine US Office, Endemol USA Holding, Inc. and DOES 1-50 are all listed in the lawsuit.
Suarez and Duddleston’s complaint lists 16 causes of action for which they are seeking damages including sexual battery, assault, hostile work environment harassment and negligent hiring/retention/supervision.
Duddleston, who was dating Suarez at the time, claims he saw King “unite the bikini tops of two female cast members without their consent.”
He reported that incident, along with the allegation that King made “lewd remarks to a female audio technician” and him grabbing the “genitals of two male camera operators” to production.
Shortly after the season wrapped, other Bravo employees made similar claims to the ones made here by the plaintiffs.
“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,” one of the accusers alleged in October 2023, adding:
“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 addressed the allegations in a statement to Rolling Stone around this time, saying:
“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.”
For his part, King wrote on social media that he was hoping to “be back on your screens” in the near future and added that “everyday I’m trying to better myself.”
In the recent past, meanwhile, Andy Cohen and Bravo have been the subject of other sexual harassment allegations as well.
