Michael Rapaport came for Colton Underwood’s sexuality struggles, and it backfired — big time.
During the roundtable portion of Thursday’s episode of “The Traitors,” Rapaport accused the former “Bachelor” star — who came out as gay in April 2021 — of being a Traitor because “nobody in this room would be better at holding a secret than you.”
Underwood, 33, fired back, “There it is. You think it was fun for 29 years of my life?” prompting Rapaport to insist that his comment had “nothing to do with it.”
The actor, 55, added, “I think you came into this game loving the idea of being a Traitor.”
But the group wasn’t buying it. Though some people had discussed voting Underwood off that night, most of them changed their vote to Rapaport after hearing his remarks.
“You can’t blame someone for being forced into a closet for the majority of their lives,” Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir, who is openly gay, argued. “That is what we took it as.”
“Real Housewives of Potomac” alum Candiace Dillard Bassett — who is playing the game as a Traitor — interjected to ask Rapaport to “clarify” his remark if his intention was not to mock Underwood’s experience.
“His behavior is of a Traitor. His behavior is secretive. It’s conniving, it’s chirping, it’s commiserating. It’s cowardly,” Rapaport claimed.
Despite the group telling the comedian he was “wrong” regardless of his alleged intentions, he barked back, “Take it however you want. This is a Traitor. You’re a Traitor — a commiserating and colluding Traitor.”
Rapaport ended up receiving the most votes and was kicked off the show. Though the goal is for Faithfuls to detect and remove Traitors, many in the group made it clear that their votes had to do with Rapaport’s actions.
Even “Survivor” alum Natalie Anderson — who had befriended Rapaport, but mostly to stay on his good side — was swayed by his “holding a secret” statement.
“For me, there are some things that it doesn’t even matter. … Today, the way you spoke to Colton, for me, it’s enough to write your name,” she said.
Following his banishment, Rapaport explained, “I meant what I meant within the context of the game. It had nothing to do with his sexuality. I really sincerely apologize if I offended Colton or anybody in the house. That absolutely wasn’t the intention.”
He added in a statement to TMZ on Friday, “I did speak to [Underwood] right after filming. We had a great man-to-man conversation, and everything was very cool and respectful. I like him and wish him and his family the best.”
Underwood came out on “Good Morning America” nearly five years ago.
“I’ve ran from myself for a long time,” he explained to Robin Roberts in the sit-down interview. “I’ve hated myself for a long time. I came to terms with that earlier this year and have been processing it, and the next step in all of this was sort of letting people know.”
Underwood, who realized he was “different” at age 6, admitted to finding himself in a “dark and bad” place before realizing his truth.
“Overall, the reason why [I’m coming out] now is because I got to a place where … I would’ve rather died than say I’m gay,” he confessed.
Prior to coming out, the ex-NFL player dated “Bachelor” contestant Cassie Randolph, who later accused him of “stalking” and “harassing” her. He has since apologized, telling Roberts, “I wish that I would’ve been courageous enough to fix myself before breaking anyone else.”
Underwood went on to marry Jordan C. Brown in May 2023. The couple welcomed a baby boy via surrogate in September 2024.
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