On the heels of BravoCon in Las Vegas this weekend, Below Deck Sailing Yacht cast member Gary King posted a message on Instagram alluding to the sexual misconduct allegations against him published in a Rolling Stone investigation, saying he was “canceled because of a lie.” He also said in the comments that he won’t be attending BravoCon.
“It’s sad that people will do anything in their power to bring you down. It’s not about how you fall but how you get up,” King wrote. “Luckily for me the fall was into a sea of daisies.” King then wrote a series of hashtags, including: “#iwascancelledbecauseofalie #anythingforaplatform #dontbelieveeverythingyousee #bullshitmedia #ivegotmyheadheldhigh #flowers #wakeupandsmelltheroses #worldisanuglyplace #iwouldneverdothat #belowdeck #belowdecksailing #onwardsandupwards.”
Representatives for Bravo declined to comment.
On August 18, King posted a photo on Instagram alongside his cast members Daisy Kelliher and Captain Glenn Shephard sharing that he would be attending BravoCon. “So excited to see so many of our loyal and dedicated Bravo fans together in Vegas!” he wrote.
Then on August 24, Rolling Stone published a story about how members of Below Deck Sailing Yacht production said they experienced and witnessed sexual harassment and misconduct from King behind the scenes. Samantha Suarez, who worked in the makeup department of Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season Four and also assisted the talent manager with day-to-day tasks, said King tried to force himself on her during production. In emails reviewed by Rolling Stone, Suarez detailed the incident to producers as well as an HR representative for Banijay America, the parent company of 51 Minds Entertainment, which produces the Emmy-nominated reality series.
At the time, King declined to comment for the story. In a statement, a spokesperson for Bravo said, “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.”
Following the Rolling Stone investigation, King was removed from the lineup of BravoCon attendees. King will not be present at any of the Vegas events and the BravoCon site does not include him in any scheduled events, even though his fellow cast members Captain Glenn Shephard, Daisy Kelliher, and Colin MacRae will be in attendance.
In addition to the written caption King shared on Instagram on Thursday, King also responded to multiple comments that people left on his post. One user asked King if he was going to BravoCon to which he replied, “that is a no :(.” Some of King’s Below Deck Sailing Yacht cast members also responded to his recent post. Chef Ileisha Dell wrote, “Love this.” Captain Glenn Shephard also commented on the post with a thumbs up and smiley face with sunglasses emojis. “Love you cap,” King responded with a heart emoji.
