'Below Deck' Staffer Accuses Show of Covering Up Gary King's Sexual Misconduct, Victim Told to Keep Quiet to Prevent 'Water Cooler Talk'

Another Bravo scandal?

A former Below Deck production staffer recently accused the TV show of covering up cast member Gary King's sexual misconduct after she reported it to HR.

Samantha Suarez, who began working for the program's makeup department on Below Deck Season 10, opened up to a news outlet about an incident where King allegedly forced himself onto her while they were filming Season 4 of Below Deck Sailing Yacht.

Following the incident, Suarez explained that she reached out to a HR representative, who told her to not discuss the incident with other members of production because "it was becoming water cooler talk." She was never asked to return to the show.

The alleged sexual misconduct occurred in the DoubleTree by Hilton Olbia-Sardinia in Italy, where Suarez was required to deliver food and water to cast members under COVID-19 protocols.

Suarez recalled that one day in July, she was tasked with returning King to his room as he had consumed a "substantial amount of alcohol." When they arrived to the room, she claimed the reality TV personality asked her to join him in his bed and begged her repeatedly not to leave the room.

She then left to later return with snacks and water for King, and when he opened the door, he was in only his underwear, and he then forced himself on her, she claimed. Suarez was luckily able to escape his grasp and quickly exited the room.

"At that point, I didn't know what was going to happen. I was freaking out," she said in a recent interview about the incident. "It just happened so fast."

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Suarez insisted she immediately told the show's producers, as well as a co-executive producer, executive producers Courtland Cox and Vivian Choi, and the talent manager.

She expressed she was no longer comfortable working around King, and Cox apparently assured her that if anything else were to happen, King would be quickly removed from the cast. She also reported the incident to the production company COO of 51 Minds Entertainment. However, she was not asked back for the show's next season, while King remained on the cast.

Rolling Stone reported on Suarez's claims.