Gary King Fred Jagueneau/Bravo
Below Deck Sailing Yacht star Gary King, Bravo and NBC are all being sued by two former crew members for allegedly covering up King’s sexual misconduct, which was reported in 2022.
Below Deck hair and makeup artist Samantha Suarez and camera operator Grey Duddleston filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, February 25, with the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles, Us Weekly can confirm.
King, 36, 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.
According to the documents, 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.
The former Below Deck employees claimed in the court documents, obtained by Us, that while filming season 4 of Below Deck Sailing Yacht in July 2022, Suarez was “held hostage in a hotel room” by King.
Suarez alleged that she was supposed to deliver snacks and water for the cast and when King opened his hotel door he was wearing his underwear. He allegedly told her to place the water inside the room, to which she complied, but then was allegedly kept there by King.
“When she turned to leave, he lunged towards her, used his arms to grab her by her upper body, and restrained her with his tight grip around her body and arms,” Suarez claimed, alleging in the filing that she “screamed and fought to pry his grip loose.”
Suarez recalled breaking free and running towards the door before King caught up and “slammed it shut.” She claimed the reality star was “menacingly laughing and staring at her with evil dilated eyes,” which made her think she “would be raped.”
Suarez claimed she was able to escape into the hallway after she accepted a phone call from another crew member and King realized he could be heard.
She recalled reporting the incident to 51 Minds, which opened up an investigation. According to the lawsuit, King “admitted what he had done” to production but wasn’t fired.
Duddleston, who was dating Suarez at the time, claimed he later saw King “unite the bikini tops of two female cast members without their consent.”
Gary King Courtesy of Gary King/Instagram
He reported that incident as well as King allegedly making “lewd remarks to a female audio technician” and him grabbing the “genitals of two male camera operators” to production.
Instead of King being fired, Duddleston said 51 Minds and NBC opened an investigation into his actions, since he reported King’s misconduct over their walkie-talkie system.
Once the season wrapped, King and Duddleston said they were terminated and are now on the “do not hire” list because of their reports against King. King, for his part, returned to the franchise for season 5 of the series, which ended in January.
Suarez and Duddleston are seeking compensatory and punitive damages for emotional distress, lost wages and reputational harm. The former crew members are also seeking accountability from the production companies that they say were involved in an alleged cover up that kept King employed and blacklisted them from the industry.
Bravo previously addressed Suarez’s allegations in a statement to Rolling Stone in 2023, 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.”
King, meanwhile, maintained his innocence while heading into season 5 of the show. “I know [that I did nothing wrong], and I know the truth but it still hurts when people will tell lies to bring you down,” he wrote via Instagram in August 2023.
Us Weekly has reached out for comment.
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