Player booted
Spilo removed after another accusation
At the end of Wednesday night’s episode of Survivor (Day 35), host Jeff Probst informed contestants that Dan Spilo had been removed from the game and sent home.
As the episode closed, a title card appeared on screen, reading, “Dan was removed from the game after a report of another incident, which happened off-camera and did not involve a player.”
The news comes after several female contestants, most notably Kellee Kim, said Spilo had been harassing them just two weeks before. Kim said he had been touching her inappropriately and making her feel uncomfortable. Several of these instances were captured on-camera. At the time, Kim asked Spilo to respect her space, and he apologized if his behaviour was “misinterpreted.”
Show producers asked Kim to let them know if the incident happened again and issued a warning to Spilo. Instead of Spilo going home when these allegations first came to light, it was Kim who was eliminated from the show that same day at Tribal Council.
It was later revealed that another contestant who had claimed Spilo harassed her was lying in order to further herself in the game.
At the time, CBS released a statement explaining that producers had spoken to the cast off-camera to hear any concerns they might have had, but that “producers provide the castaways a wide berth to play the game.”
Controversy erupted around the network’s handling of the misconduct allegation.
Now, it’s clear that CBS knew Spilo would be removed from the show in just a few weeks, but instead of clarifying this at the time, the network chose to ramp up suspense and wait until this episode aired.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Kim addressed Spilo’s exit: “I wish that no one else had to be subjected to this type of behaviour. CBS and Survivor were on notice of Dan’s behaviour from the very first days of the game . ... I’ve continued to feel disappointed by how this pattern of behaviour was allowed to occur for so long. What is most important now is how all of us — CBS, Survivor, other organizations, and all of us individuals — decide to learn from this story and take action.”
This is the first time a contestant has been removed from the series due to their behaviour in the show’s 39 seasons.