Survivor In The Media

[Bryce Lynch]

15 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I think Varner felt a combination of sorry/defensive over what he eventually thought was an inaccurate portrayal (and also didn't think TPTB should have aired it).  I have always had mixed feelings about them airing it, mainly because it seemed exploitative and more for shock value.  Then again, I imagine there would have been a lot of backlash for not airing it.  Something about that incident always bugged me.  I kind of felt like Varner got set up for some reason.  

Regardless, his actions were inexcusable.  But I understand why the likes of him and Hatch would be so quick to defend Feely Dan.  Don't forget that Hatch believes TPTB and CBS left him to rot in jail for not paying his taxes, when he claims they planned to pay them to avoid Hatch coming forward with cheating claims on their end.

I read that Zeke wanted them to air the outing.  If he wasn't OK with it, I think they should have edited out.   

Hatch seems like a pathological liar.   If Survivor was going to cover his taxes, they would cut him a check for closer to $2 million to cover the taxes and Hatch would pay the government, or they would withhold the taxes and pay them.  

[peachmangosteen]

TPTB let Zeke see the Varner outing ep first but they didn't let Kellee see this ep first. That makes no sense. I guess they really just had no idea that this was gonna blow up the way it did, which just proves how utterly ignorant they are.

[Lantern7]

6 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

TPTB let Zeke see the Varner outing ep first but they didn't let Kellee see this ep first. That makes no sense. I guess they really just had no idea that this was gonna blow up the way it did, which just proves how utterly ignorant they are.

One word: sexism. Really, while Survivor isn't as bad as Big Brother in behind-the-scenes choices, I still think a lot of the people involve think like Probst . . . only not nearly as "nice."

[ProfCrash]

7 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

TPTB let Zeke see the Varner outing ep first but they didn't let Kellee see this ep first. That makes no sense. I guess they really just had no idea that this was gonna blow up the way it did, which just proves how utterly ignorant they are.

I think that it points to the fact that they see sexual harassment in a different light then the LGBT issues and the obvious bullying that Shirin experienced. 

They mishandled the Thailand crap and the All Stars crap with Sue. They mishandled this as well.

And the reality is that most people see sexual harassment as something different then the bullying, racism, homophobia and the like. Remember Brandon Hantz's first season when he was targeting a female tribe mate because she was too tempting for him and so she had to go? Why the hell would you cast someone like that on Survivor? We know why, because sexism is not seen as such a big deal while casting someone openly racist would be massively bad.

t is not just on Survivor but in society as a whole.

[Nashville]

13 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

One word: sexism. Really, while Survivor isn't as bad as Big Brother in behind-the-scenes choices, I still think a lot of the people involve think like Probst . . . only not nearly as "nice."

Absolutely no disagreement with this as far as it goes, but there is a second word which pretty much HAS to come into play as well: idiocy.  

By this I mean, how such a gaffe could develop into the current situation MAY have been at least understandable as little as two years ago - but it’s not two years ago, it’s now. #metoo had already been up and running at full steam for a year and half before filming, Harvey Weinstein had already been charged - hell, CBS CEO Les Moonves has been forced out of his position just 6 months before.  So how on earth did ANYBODY in the CBS organization think there was any chance on earth moderate inaction was the best play here?  

Fucking morons.  I’ll hate it if this kills Survivor, but at this point it’s no more than what they deserve.

[Bryce Lynch]

3 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

TPTB let Zeke see the Varner outing ep first but they didn't let Kellee see this ep first. That makes no sense. I guess they really just had no idea that this was gonna blow up the way it did, which just proves how utterly ignorant they are.

I think it is apples and oranges.  There is no deep, personal secret about Kellee being revealed. All that was revealed was that Dan is a gropey pig and Kellee was justifiably upset by his behavior.  

[LadyChatts]

https://my.xfinity.com/ed/tv/2019/11/20/survivor-castaway-jamal-i-believe-that-it-is-important-to-believe-women/

An interview with Jamal.  He said he didn't know anything about Dan receiving a warning; the first time he heard of it was when he watched the show and saw it come across the screen.

He also said that Aaron really didn't have all the facts, and passed Janet off as someone bitter that they were blindsided.  He believes Aaron would have reacted differently if he knew the extent of everything.

Edited November 20, 2019 by LadyChatts

[LanceM]

Some interesting comments from Jamal in that interview.

Regarding Missy and Elizabeth:

"I know people think that it was wrong for Missy and Elizabeth to use such a sensitive issue as gameplay in “Survivor,” but again…think about what each person thought they knew. Dan thought he had allies in Janet AND Kellee. Elizabeth and Missy thought that Kellee was coming after Missy even after their conversation on the beach. Aaron thought Janet was lying to him about Missy and Elizabeth crying to her about Dan. Missy and Elizabeth had a hard time believing Janet after they heard that Kellee was voting Missy. Can you see how messy this is? Inside of all of that, you have Kellee experiencing real discomfort with Dan’s behavior, but even she was willing to put those feelings aside in the name of playing the game. Take all these wonderful people out of the weirdness that is “Survivor” and every single one of us would treat the issue of sexual harassment with the sensitivity and care that it deserves. For people who were really triggered by the episode, my hope is that seeing this distinction can be healing and allow for forgiveness and sympathy for the players caught in this uncomfortable intersection of real life and the game."

and this

"I have to admit that I’m having a hard time answering questions like this because I just know so much more about the situation, and I know so much more about the people involved than you all do as fans of the show. I agree that it looks pretty bad to be seen as the ones “crossing the line” when it comes to using Janet and Kellee’s feelings about Dan as strategy, but I think it’s complicated because, if you are in this game environment and you truly believe that the other people there are using that same issue as a game move, then you might come to the conclusion that you’re just doing what you think everyone else is doing. You want to go further in the game. You don’t want to get played by having your feelings manipulated. You don’t have all the information about what’s true and what’s not. As far as you’re concerned, you feel safe and secure with the people in the game. All I’m saying is that it’s hard for me, knowing what I know, to come down on any of the people involved as strongly as the reaction has been towards them"

About the "meeting" the producers had sounds like it a big load of nothing. yikes.

"it is perfectly plausible that Dan was unaware that production was referring to him and his behavior."

[LanceM]

I find this tweet exchange between Kellee and Abi to be a little intersting. not sure who she is talking about here?  Maybe Tommy and Lauren?

https://twitter.com/kellee_kim/status/1197300636024356864

Edited November 21, 2019 by LanceM

[LadyChatts]

That would be my guess.

Also, one wonders what kind of warning Dan got if he didn't know why he was getting attacked at TC.

[Hanahope]

1 hour ago, LadyChatts said:

That would be my guess.

Also, one wonders what kind of warning Dan got if he didn't know why he was getting attacked at TC.

Sounds like TPTB gave a “hey everyone, respect personal boundaries, ok?”kind of talk.  Very vague and general.

[LadyChatts]

So unless their interviews also get pushed back for some reason, Missy and Aaron will be up tomorrow.  I'm wondering if they will also have to e-mail their answers in.  

I expect the show to face even more backlash for not even mentioning the incident tonight.  If you didn't watch you'd have no idea what had happened.

Edited November 21, 2019 by LadyChatts

[ProfCrash]

11 hours ago, LanceM said:

I find this tweet exchange between Kellee and Abi to be a little intersting. not sure who she is talking about here?  Maybe Tommy and Lauren?

https://twitter.com/kellee_kim/status/1197300636024356864

Aaron discussed in his apology video that he did not have all the information and I think he was right. Kellee didn't have all the information either. She had a long heart to heart with Missy and thought they were on the same page regarding Dan. But Kellee was still willing to vote Missy out over Dan. So I can see where Kellee would not have been initially upset by Missy's play because Kelly essentially planned ot do the same thing.

At the time in the game that we saw, and probably up until last week, Kellee had no clue that Missy weaponized sexual assault in the game. Kellee had no idea that Missy told Elisabeth to play up how uncomfortable she was to Janet so that Janet would vote for Dan. She had no idea that Missy and Elisabeth used Kellee's discomfort against her the get Kellee to vote for Dan and then vote her out.

I do think that Kellee took the same approach in the game, play it strategically, and expected the others to do the same. With all of the information, Aaron would have behaved differently. I believe that if Aaron had heard what Missy said to Kellee and knew that Missy and Elisabeth were using sexual harassment and discomfort as a tool in the game he would have responded differently. And I think if Kellee had the same information she would have responded differently.

I think it is notable that Kellee accepted Aaron and Elisabeth's apologies. I think she accepted Elisabeth's because Elisabeth owned up to weaponizing sexual harassment but Missy did not.

I think Kellee can see the difference between what she saw and knew was happening in the game, at that moment, and what was revealed in the episode. So I think she can understand that Missy saw Kellee as a threat and Missy voted Kellee out because Missy was on the bottom. But I think Kellee's attitude changed after the episode aired and she saw and heard what Missy and Elisabeth did.

[Lantern7]

Reality Blurred: Andy tees off on the usual assholes (especially Probst) some more. Also, he will not be recapping this season anymore. Also bailing is Josh Wigler. I don't know his work, but him bailing from covering the show (apparently not merely this season) is seismic. Sadly, I think Survivor will keep chugging along, as it moves between irrelevancy and controversy.

[LadyChatts]

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2019-11-20/survivor-cbs-me-too-aftermath

Here's a brief article talking about how Survivor just brushed past what happened last week.  Had I not watched or read the boards, I would have never known anything happened.  And last night's episode would have ordinarly reminded me what a great season this is, especially compared to last season.  But knowing what I know, it just puts a dark cloud over it.  Even Janet talking about it sounded more like someone who was blindsided and bitter vs what really happened.  

ETA: Here's a tweet from Dalton Ross.  We may not be getting exit interviews from Missy and Aaron

Edited November 21, 2019 by LadyChatts

[peachmangosteen]

Quote

We may not be getting exit interviews from Missy and Aaron

You gotta be fucking kidding me lol.

[ByaNose]

28 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

You gotta be fucking kidding me lol.

They’re hoping everyone will have forgotten everything by Finale night. 

[LadyChatts]

37 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

You gotta be fucking kidding me lol.

Missy I can understand.  Aaron, I don't think he even came out looking the worst last week.  Jamal even singled him out and said Aaron may really and truly not had the facts, and was going on what he was told.  I assumed that was going to be the defense anyway, so go with that.  It just shows how screwed up production made this situation.  If they had removed Dan in the first place, they would have received way more praise, a lot less backlash, and we wouldn't have had Aaron, Missy, and Elizabeth making the comments that they did that got them into trouble.  I sympathize to the point that, by production not acting, it really screwed so many people over and that narrative now defines what was looking to be a good season.

On the other hand, when Dan Foley is willing to go on the press line, I think anyone can handle anything.  I wonder if this hadn't just happened if it would have changed their minds?

Edited November 21, 2019 by LadyChatts

[LadyChatts]

https://ew.com/tv/2019/11/21/survivor-jeff-probst-inappropriate-touching-episode-10/

Interview with Jeff after last night's episode.  What he said about the issue with last week:

Quote

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Before we get into this week’s episode and double elimination, I want to circle back to what happened in last week’s installment. We already spoke about everything that occurred in the episodes with regards to the inappropriate touching, but obviously there has been a huge reaction from viewers about what went down. What has been your biggest takeaway in terms of the reaction from both fans and former players who were upset by what they saw and the way it was handled?
JEFF PROBST: It’s an unprecedented and unfortunate situation that is still very raw for a lot of the players and fans. We are all trying to learn from it.

These events all took place about seven months ago. Upon reflection, is there anything you wish you all had handled differently from a production standpoint, or anything you plan to change moving forward in terms of if behavior is observed that appears to be crossing a line or making someone uncomfortable?
We will definitely be using the lessons learned from the Dan situation as a guide in how to handle similar situations in future seasons. We have already started discussing ideas for how to change things in the future.

[pennben]

6 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

  It just shows how screwed up production made this situation.  If they had removed Dan in the first place, they would have received way more praise, a lot less backlash, and we wouldn't have had Aaron, Missy, and Elizabeth making the comments that they did that got them into trouble.  I sympathize to the point that, by production not acting, it really screwed so many people over and that narrative now defines what was looking to be 

I think things went horribly wrong this season, production thought they were heroes and actually didn’t realize how horribly they handled this until the world told them. Josh Wigler implied  one of the reason’s he’s stepping back is that he published an interview with Probst that was done via email, which didn’t allow him to push back live and he felt that made him complicit in what Probst/Production’s message was (and let us all stop thinking of Probst as just host....he runs the show now) .

Then the show delayed interviews with Kellee/Jamal and insisted they be via email.  

Now Missy/Aaron have chosen not to do exit interviews with the press. According to Gordon Holmes, Aaron agreed to interview only by email. Holmes indicated he’d only do live interviews going forward. Seemingly regretting, like Wigler, accepting the previous dictates they allowed the network to put on them (my impression only).

One  note about Holmes interview with Jamal (via email), he less asked/but assumed that Jamal would come back for another season  Jamal said he’d need to see how this season plays out before he answered. Jamal knows how the season plays out, so I guess he means how the show handles all things, including the reunion?

Even Cesternino who’s created a business covering the show has had podcasts questioning what the hell production was thinking 

That’s my long winded way of agreeing with you that production screwed up!  And, given the overall failure of a billion dollar company not figuring out how to deal with what happened or explain what happened (despite, you know, their billion dollar resources to hire the best explainers), I can understand why individuals that just wanted to play a game who made really bad decisions don’t want to be the first folks to talk live on record.  

So, I get why Missy/Aaron didn’t want to be punching bags for second week running. I do hope to hear their thoughts at some point in the future.

[Bryce Lynch]

10 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

Missy I can understand.  Aaron, I don't think he even came out looking the worst last week.  Jamal even singled him out and said Aaron may really and truly not had the facts, and was going on what he was told.  I assumed that was going to be the defense anyway, so go with that.  It just shows how screwed up production made this situation.  If they had removed Dan in the first place, they would have received way more praise, a lot less backlash, and we wouldn't have had Aaron, Missy, and Elizabeth making the comments that they did that got them into trouble.  I sympathize to the point that, by production not acting, it really screwed so many people over and that narrative now defines what was looking to be a good season.

On the other hand, when Dan Foley is willing to go on the press line, I think anyone can handle anything.  I wonder if this hadn't just happened if it would have changed their minds?

I agree. I think Aaron could help himself by doing exit press and explaining what he knew and what he didn't know and repeating his apology.

Missy might only dig a deeper hole for herself.  Her actions were totally inexcusable and there is nothing she could say that would make people understand why she did what she did.

Plus, she is pretty stubborn and arrogant and lacks self awareness.

[LizBug]

Opinion piece from Variety about Survivor sidestepping the issue.

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/survivor-island-idols-sexual-harassment-1203411590/

[ByaNose]

While Aaron did look bad at Tribal Council two weeks ago it looks like he didn't have all the facts even though he said the "guys" would know. He then came out with a heartfelt (some would disagree) apology. I think he should have done the exit press since he was more a minor player in the whole thing. Maybe, since he and Missy are so close he didn't do press since he knew she didn't want to do any.

[LadyChatts]

I'm wondering if people will refuse to go to the reunion.  Of course, they'd be losing out on money and answering to Jeff (vs reporters) who may or may not throw softball questions at them.  Still, this will likely take up the bulk of the reunion show.  I have to think they will take a more serious approach to it, given all the criticism and flack they've taken.  A lot of people, including former contestants, think this will be the final nail in Survivor's coffin.  I guess we'll wait and see if Redmond has anything to say about casting for upcoming seasons, because that should be happening in the next couple of months.

In the past, Survivor had controversies but was able to brush by them.  Ghandia/Ted happened long before SM was a thing, and Ghandia had a negative edit in comparison to Ted.  Seriously, when I re-watched Thailand recently it was a very cringe worthy moment.  Worse than I remembered.  Then there was Sue/Hatch, but again, the show handled it and moved on.  Through the years, contestants have been accused or seen making racist/sexist remarks or bullying, but the show was able to ride out the storm and throw it back on the contestants themselves.  Probably the biggest controversy they've had in recent years was Varner and Zeke, but Varner left that night, they could pin the blame on him, and move on.  Zeke had the opportunity to speak about it, and it all got tied up in a neat little package.  Though there's still debate whether it should have been shown at all, and Varner's appearance at the reunion show was cringe worthy in itself.  But again, the show could cast the blame back on the contestants and their actions.  

Now, it's all on the show for how they handled it.  Even Jeff's comments in that EW interview I posted sound canned.  I'm with those that really think they assumed what they did was enough.

Edited November 23, 2019 by LadyChatts

[ByaNose]

Yeah, Jeff even in all the months he should have been ready with the answers......didn’t. The we’re going to be more vigilant blah, blah, blah was about the future and not what actually happened in the current season. I think after the backlash with those answers & lack of exit press & completely not mentioning in any of it the last episode or at Ponderosa made them look like total fools. They thought addressing it in the 2 hour episode was gonna be enough. The totally misjudged that though. Epic failure! 

[LanceM]

On 11/20/2019 at 7:57 PM, LanceM said:

I find this tweet exchange between Kellee and Abi to be a little intersting. not sure who she is talking about here?  Maybe Tommy and Lauren?

https://twitter.com/kellee_kim/status/1197300636024356864

Just to followup on this someone posted the following after this exchange:

@TommySheehan22@LaurenAshBeckYep. Shes talking 2 YOU. saying u didn't have all the information but you knew the nuVokai people rly were voting Dan out cuz of how uncomfortable they were. but u both cared more about strategy bc kellee here is a badass! hmm. sad.

I would note it took 16 minutes for her to respond to her first tweet where she clarified that she wasn't talking about Elizabeth and Missy. She had yet after one day not responded to say that this person was wrong. That tells me that she was definitely talking about Tommy and Lauren and still one week later have not accepted any of their apologies. It also makes me wonder if there was more that went down on that beach that we weren't shown

Edited November 23, 2019 by LanceM

[LanceM]

Interview with Aaron

https://parade.com/957139/mikebloom/survivor-aaron-meredith-eliminated/

"Our “production talk” came about 10 minutes before our Immunity Challenge. My experience in that talk was this: “Aaron, we want you to know if you don’t feel comfortable or safe, please know we are here for you. We want everyone to feel safe out here.” Very out of the blue. I thought to myself, “Is this standard? Do they do this every season?” I have no clue. Just a very vague blanket statement telling me if I ever felt unsafe, I should let production know. Roger that guys, now can I go focus on winning immunity? There was never any indication that something was going on or that someone had issues. It just seemed like a standard halftime meeting."

There is also one coming from Missy.

#Survivor exit press update: Aaron & Missy have requested to do email interviews, rather than phone, this week. I have elected to take them up on their offer My interview with Aaron should be up later today, with Missy hopefully soon after Also, quoting my own tweet feels weird

Edited November 23, 2019 by LanceM

[ProfCrash]

That is about what I expected. It fits with what we saw in terms of alliances, relationships, and conversations. 

[JudyObscure]

On 11/22/2019 at 2:25 AM, pennben said:

Even Cesternino who’s created a business covering the show has had podcasts questioning what the hell production was thinking 

That's interesting coming from Rob whose season was rampant with sexual images and talk.  Production filmed Jenna and Heidi bathing in the waterfall, several times,  as though they were making  soft porn and Rob and the other young guys continuously talked about how hot the women were.   That's also the season they got naked for peanut butter when all they had to do was jump in the water.  Jeff always acted like that was a great moment in Survivor. I consider it the worst season with the worst winner.

At one point Rob was fantasizing about Heidi and said that he had never had sex before -- "Well except with a fat girl."  I could just picture all Rob's hometown friends watching the episode together, including the "fat girl" who had thought she had been his girlfriend until she found out their experience didn't really happen because she wasn't thin.  I've never listened to his pod cast.  I think he's a jerk.

[ByaNose]

I’ll have to read Aaron’s interview. He seems like he was in the dark at the time in what was going in. He was still a jerk & I never liked him but he might not have had the full 411 on what was going on even though he said men would know. That was a dumb comment to make whether something was going on or not. 

[Eolivet]

16 hours ago, LanceM said:

My experience in that talk was this: “Aaron, we want you to know if you don’t feel comfortable or safe, please know we are here for you. We want everyone to feel safe out here.”

What a totally tone-deaf piece of bullshit. They should have said “hey guys, if you don’t speak up, you can’t sue us.” Which I am sure was the only reason for that talk.

I hope they do get sued. I hope someone loses their job over this. It won’t be Probst, but he’d deserve it. And replace him with Michele Fitzgerald, so he knows how badly he screwed up.

Edited November 23, 2019 by Eolivet

[LanceM]

Missy interview is up.

https://parade.com/957469/mikebloom/survivor-missy-byrd-eliminated/

"This situation was highly emotional because we were in game mode. It came down to a bad game of telephone, and in no way did I fully understand the severity of Dan’s behavior. I thought to myself many times that if Dan’s behavior was indeed so horrible, why was he still in the game? I felt safe due to being filmed 24/7 and had no reason to think otherwise. Again, I did not know about Kellee’s or Dan’s personal talks with production."

[LadyChatts]

I'm glad Missy and Aaron decided to do an interview, though I totally see why they chose to do e-mail vs talking to a real person.  It just sounds like a mess all the way around.  

I'm going to assume Dan probably won't have anything to say.  But who knows, they may not want to give him the chance.  

[ByaNose]

2 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

I'm glad Missy and Aaron decided to do an interview, though I totally see why they chose to do e-mail vs talking to a real person.  It just sounds like a mess all the way around.  

I'm going to assume Dan probably won't have anything to say.  But who knows, they may not want to give him the chance.  

Yeah, is Dan not doing interviews because he wants to avoid his mess or does he make it to Finale night & CBS doesn’t want him talking?!

[ByaNose]

5 hours ago, LanceM said:

Missy interview is up.

https://parade.com/957469/mikebloom/survivor-missy-byrd-eliminated/

"This situation was highly emotional because we were in game mode. It came down to a bad game of telephone, and in no way did I fully understand the severity of Dan’s behavior. I thought to myself many times that if Dan’s behavior was indeed so horrible, why was he still in the game? I felt safe due to being filmed 24/7 and had no reason to think otherwise. Again, I did not know about Kellee’s or Dan’s personal talks with production."

If Aaron & Missy are to be believed then production gave them a bare bones chat about potential uncomfortableness without any who, what, when, why information. It’s pretty apparent that production royally fucked this up during the game and the editors & Jeff made it worse months later in the edit. I’ll say it again. It was an EPIC FAIL.

[LadyChatts]

19 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

If Aaron & Missy are to be believed then production gave them a bare bones chat about potential uncomfortableness without any who, what, when, why information. It’s pretty apparent that production royally fucked this up during the game and the editors & Jeff made it worse months later in the edit. I’ll say it again. It was an EPIC FAIL.

Yeah, with the disclaimer, I felt more was done than really was.  So clearly production thought just talking to everyone was good enough, without giving any specifics.  I feel they wanted to keep Dan around for the drama, and that clearly backfired on them big time.  I'm more amazed that, months later, everyone was still pretty much in the dark about what happened, and found out along with America what transpired.  That's really crappy to not even give them a warning about what had happened, so they could prepare.

Also, Missy sounded just way too intense when it came to playing this game.

[JudyObscure]

I imagine The Talk was something like this:  We've brought new rice since yesterday's got moldy in the rain, and with all of you huddled together from the cold remember to respect sexual boundaries, oh, and  when you get water from the well don't forget to use the bucket provided and never a cooking pot.

[MissEwa]

17 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

Yeah, with the disclaimer, I felt more was done than really was. 

Same. I was - somewhat willfully - giving them the benefit of the doubt, but it feels like they handled it that super-HR non-accusatory way where nobody really gets what's going on. I'll bet Dan's "warning" was a very passive 'there have been reports that this has happened and we don't think it should happen again, don't you agree?' style warning that let him walk away and keep pretending that he personally hadn't done anything wrong. 

[diana]

On 11/23/2019 at 8:21 AM, JudyObscure said:

At one point Rob was fantasizing about Heidi and said that he had never had sex before -- "Well except with a fat girl."  I could just picture all Rob's hometown friends watching the episode together, including the "fat girl" who had thought she had been his girlfriend until she found out their experience didn't really happen because she wasn't thin.  I've never listened to his pod cast.  I think he's a jerk.

I forgot about how terrible that all was, and I would assume Rob would be mortified of his young self with those comments. But I have to give him much respect for the job he did following last week’s show, having on a multitude of women guests thoroughly covering the situation. He seems like a decent guy doing his best, and I’m sure he has immeasurably changed from that kid of 17 years ago. 

[Nashville]

On 11/23/2019 at 8:53 PM, ByaNose said:

If Aaron & Missy are to be believed

Definite problem here....

[JudyObscure]

14 hours ago, diana said:

I forgot about how terrible that all was, and I would assume Rob would be mortified of his young self with those comments. But I have to give him much respect for the job he did following last week’s show, having on a multitude of women guests thoroughly covering the situation. He seems like a decent guy doing his best, and I’m sure he has immeasurably changed from that kid of 17 years ago. 

Rob was 25 when he was on Survivor, that's  plenty old enough to know not to ridicule a woman you've had sex with on national TV.  I'm sure he likes the way anything controversial on the show gets more people willing to speak on his podcast and many more listening to it.

[watchingtvaddict]

On 11/24/2019 at 6:34 AM, LanceM said:

Missy interview is up.

https://parade.com/957469/mikebloom/survivor-missy-byrd-eliminated/

"This situation was highly emotional because we were in game mode. It came down to a bad game of telephone, and in no way did I fully understand the severity of Dan’s behavior. I thought to myself many times that if Dan’s behavior was indeed so horrible, why was he still in the game? I felt safe due to being filmed 24/7 and had no reason to think otherwise. Again, I did not know about Kellee’s or Dan’s personal talks with production."

Is this interview available elsewhere? parade.com is blocked in my country, so I can't read it. 

[Bryce Lynch]

On 11/23/2019 at 8:21 AM, JudyObscure said:

That's interesting coming from Rob whose season was rampant with sexual images and talk.  Production filmed Jenna and Heidi bathing in the waterfall, several times,  as though they were making  soft porn and Rob and the other young guys continuously talked about how hot the women were.   That's also the season they got naked for peanut butter when all they had to do was jump in the water.  Jeff always acted like that was a great moment in Survivor. I consider it the worst season with the worst winner.

At one point Rob was fantasizing about Heidi and said that he had never had sex before -- "Well except with a fat girl."  I could just picture all Rob's hometown friends watching the episode together, including the "fat girl" who had thought she had been his girlfriend until she found out their experience didn't really happen because she wasn't thin.  I've never listened to his pod cast.  I think he's a jerk.

Interesting, I never watched either or Cestornino's seasons.  He seems to always be appropriate on his podcasts, in the years I've been listening.  

It is possible he has matured and "evolved" since his Survivor days, or he could be reading the room and virtue signalling  

It reminds me a bit of another prominent podcaster, Bill Simmons, formerly of ESPN and now CEO of The Ringer.   In his earlier days he would make a lot of bawdy and sexual jokes.  In his "Book of Basketball", he once compared finally Karl Malone winning the NBA to his buddy finally going into the VIP room of a Vegas strip club with the mediocre Asian stripper with "fake cans", who kept circling their table.   

These days, Simmons is pretty "woke".  It could be he has grown up and has a teenage daughter.  Or it could be that he realizes he can't get away with what he used to get away with.  

[Bryce Lynch]

On 11/23/2019 at 4:34 PM, LanceM said:

Missy interview is up.

https://parade.com/957469/mikebloom/survivor-missy-byrd-eliminated/

"This situation was highly emotional because we were in game mode. It came down to a bad game of telephone, and in no way did I fully understand the severity of Dan’s behavior. I thought to myself many times that if Dan’s behavior was indeed so horrible, why was he still in the game? I felt safe due to being filmed 24/7 and had no reason to think otherwise. Again, I did not know about Kellee’s or Dan’s personal talks with production."

She is really a piece of work.  She claims she didn't know the extent of Kellee's problems with Dan, despite the "sincere" 2 hour talk with her, where she told Kellee she felt the same way.

If she didn't believe Kellee and didn't know Dan's behavior was "so horrible" (despite being groped at night by him) then she was slandering who she thought was an innocent man, potentially ruining his life.  

If she believed Kellee and felt the same way (which is what I believe) than she used real sexual harassment to gaslight a brave, honorable woman into falling on her own sword to protect her and the other women in the tribe.  

Also, her "representation" talk is such nonsense.  Black Americans have been on the SCOTUS, Secretary of State, POTUS, prominent brain surgeons, astronauts, etc. etc.   I don't think a couple of black players winning a physical contest would be such an inspiration, especially when physical contests are one area where even the most die hard racists don't deny the abilities of black Americans.

What would have been much better "representation" would have been playing with some shred of honor and integrity.  I'm not talking about Coach style "honor", where you try to get people to not play the game.

But, Missy certainly could have been a much bigger inspiration and positive role model if she didn't use sexual harassment allegations as a "move".  She also could have been less belligerent and boastful about her lying to people.   I don't think anyone thinks of Russell Hantz as a role model or good "representation" of anything.  

Edited November 25, 2019 by Bryce Lynch

[cleo]

I always felt like Rob was putting it on a bit for the cameras in his season. Now he was still kind of acting like an asshole with some of his comments, but it always seemed like a bit or a persona to me. I don't listen to his podcast but going purely on his show appearance I would not be surprised if he is different bc his show appearance never seemed genuine to me.

[ProfCrash]

Rob was kind of a pig in his season but Heidi and Jenna were not exactly innocent. 

Now Rob is married with 2 kids. His show has been pretty respectful in dealing with the hard issues. He had shows which were female led after some of the grosser things that have happened on the show. 

[JudyObscure]

1 hour ago, ProfCrash said:

Rob was kind of a pig in his season but Heidi and Jenna were not exactly innocent. 

I thought Heidi and Jenna were two of the worst Survivor's ever.  They talked down to the other women  and accused them of being jealous because they weren't  "pretty girls" like them.  Jenna complained about having to deal with the young woman who was hearing impaired  because she just "didn't have time for that."  She bragged later that stripping for peanut butter was a fabulous idea because it got her in Playboy. Like that's her idea of a truly high accomplishment.   

[ProfCrash]

11 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

I thought Heidi and Jenna were two of the worst Survivor's ever.  They talked down to the other women  and accused them of being jealous because they weren't  "pretty girls" like them.  Jenna complained about having to deal with the young woman who was hearing impaired  because she just "didn't have time for that."  She bragged later that stripping for peanut butter was a fabulous idea because it got her in Playboy. Like that's her idea of a truly high accomplishment.   

Yeah, Heidi and Jenna were awful. That said, Jenna has grown up a lot. I don't think we have heard much from Heidi but I do think that they both learned a lot from that season.

[Libby]

3 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Yeah, Heidi and Jenna were awful. That said, Jenna has grown up a lot. I don't think we have heard much from Heidi but I do think that they both learned a lot from that season.

Jenna had an incident with drugs a few years ago. I'm pretty sure that she was overdosing. She bit the police officer that was trying to help her.

Heidi married Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels.

Edited November 26, 2019 by Libby

[ProfCrash]

Just now, Libby said:

Jenna had an incident where she was found in her car with drugs a few years ago. I'm pretty sure that she was overdosing. She bit the police officer that was trying to help her.

Heidi married Phillies pitcher Cole Hammels.

OK, so maybe not so much Jenna. I remember her seeming more mature when she played in All Stars and like she was more mature when she was with Ethan. I knew they divorced but she seemed to be in a better place. Guess that fell apart,