‘Survivor’ players apologize for using #MeToo to advance
“For the first time ever, I think I’m going to stop watching the show. I’m done with this season.”
Eliza Orlins, former contestant
A pair of female “Survivor” contestants say they’re sorry for taking advantage of a third woman’s complaints about unwanted physical contact in order to advance in the game.
The apologies came after a two-hour Wednesday night episode of the popular CBS show, in which the women said that a male contestant had touched them inappropriately. The show’s producers got involved and issued the man, Dan Spilo, a formal warning, but, in a Machiavellian twist, the two accusers admitted to using the situation to oust the other, Kellee Kim.
On Thursday night, after a fan backlash, the two contestants, Missy Byrd and Elizabeth Beisel, issued lengthy apologies online.
“I became so caught up in game play that I did not realize a very serious situation, nor did I handle it with the care that it deserved,” Byrd said on Twitter. Sexual harassment and sexual assault “have no business being used as tactics to further one’s own agenda,” Beisel said.
Their actions left many fans disappointed with how the contestants and producers handled the complaints on the show. The winner of this 39th season, “Island of the Idols,” will be revealed in December.
“For the first time ever, I think I’m going to stop watching the show,” Eliza Orlins, a former “Survivor” contestant, said on Twitter. “I’m done with this season. I have friends on season 40 so I’ll pick it back then, but honestly, I’m out after tonight. This felt … really gross.”
During the show, the producers said that they had met with the contestants individually and collectively to caution them against violating personal boundaries and to issue Spilo a formal “warning,” the consequences of which were not clear.
“We spent more time and consideration on this question than anything I’ve ever been involved with in my entire career,” Jeff Probst, the show’s host and executive producer, said in a statement.
Early in Wednesday’s episode, Kim and Byrd bonded over what they described as unwanted physical contact by Spilo, such as his brushing aside Kim’s hair despite her having asked him to stop touching her, and putting his arm on Byrd as she tried to sleep.
In a confessional, Kim then tearfully described how she felt upon realizing that other women had similar experiences: “This isn’t just one person; it’s a pattern,” she said.
Moments later, an unidentified crew member off screen offered a rare interjection: Should Kim feel the need, she should come to the crew member and he would put an end to the behavior, he said.
Meanwhile, Byrd conspired with Beisel to play up their discomfort with Spilo in conversations with others while instead secretly targeting Kim.
In the end, a majority of the contestants voted to kick Kim off the island, while the rest cast their votes for Spilo, who remained.
In a tribal council discussion at the end of the show, Spilo offered an apology while Kim, who had already been voted off, sat nearby.
“My personal feeling is if anyone ever felt for a second uncomfortable about anything I’ve ever done, I’m horrified about that and I’m terribly sorry,” he said.
After the show aired, Kim said on Twitter that she was hurt and saddened watching the episode, but that “no one deserves threats or shaming and we can talk about this in a way that we are all better for it.”
The episode frustrated some fans, who felt that the show had reinforced negative stereotypes and expectations when it comes to harassment and assault allegations.
“We did what we thought was right, but I am not shying away from my responsibility, and I respect those who feel we should have removed him from the game,” Probst said in the statement.