Photo credit: www.thewrap.com
Legal Action Against “Below Deck” Star Gary King and Production Companies
Two former crew members from the reality series “Below Deck” have initiated a lawsuit against cast member Gary King, accusing him of sexual assault and battery. The suit also targets NBCUniversal, Bravo, and various production companies involved in the show for allegations of retaliation and wrongful termination.
Filed on Tuesday in Los Angeles, the lawsuit identifies Samantha Suarez, a hair and makeup artist, and Grey Duddleston, a camera operator, as the plaintiffs. Both claim to have either suffered from or witnessed King’s alleged misconduct, along with facing retaliation following their reports. Defendants in the case include not only NBCUniversal and Bravo, but also Mountain View Productions, 51 Minds, and Endemol Shine.
In the legal filing, Suarez recounts an incident from July 3, 2022, during Season 4 of “Below Deck Sailing Yacht,” where she claims King trapped her in a hotel room. When she entered his room to deliver snacks and water, King allegedly opened the door in his underwear and refused to accept the items without her stepping inside.
Suarez alleges that when she attempted to leave the room after setting the water down, King aggressively lunged at her, grabbing her upper body and restraining her. After managing to free herself, she asserts that he pursued her down the hall, laughing menacingly while maintaining a threatening demeanor.
Fortunately, Suarez received a phone call from another crew member, which provided an opportunity to escape. Nevertheless, King is said to have followed her into the hallway, further attempting to grab her from behind.
Following the incident, Suarez reported King’s behavior to 51 Minds, which initiated an investigation. King reportedly acknowledged the events; however, he was not terminated but merely warned that further such incidents would lead to his dismissal.
Additionally, Duddleston, who was in a relationship with Suarez at the time, is said to have witnessed King’s troubling behavior, which included untethering bikini tops of two female cast members without their consent, making inappropriate comments to a female audio technician, and inappropriately touching two male camera operators. Duddleston reported these incidents over the crew’s walkie-talkie system. The lawsuit claims that instead of addressing King’s behavior, 51 Minds and NBCUniversal investigated Duddleston for his use of the communication system.
Upon their return to the United States, both Suarez and Duddleston discovered that they had been terminated from their positions by 51 Minds and NBCUniversal. They express concern that they have since been placed on a “do not hire” list, affecting their future employment opportunities in the industry, while alleging that NBCUniversal continues to back King.
A spokesperson for NBCUniversal has not provided a comment regarding the lawsuit as of now.
This legal action follows Suarez’s previous recounting of the incident in an interview with Rolling Stone over a year earlier. At that time, Bravo expressed its commitment to creating a safe and respectful working environment for all involved with its productions, stating that they require their production partners to implement suitable workplace policies and reporting procedures. The network noted that the concerns raised by Suarez were investigated in 2022, leading to actions based on the findings.
Source
www.thewrap.com