Below Deck's Captain Lee breaks silence on 'despicable' sexual harassment on Down Under
Below Deck's Captain Lee Rosbach has branded Down Under stars Luke Jones and Laura Bileskalne "despicable," following this week's episode.
Captain Jason Chambers fired both Luke and Laura after two separate incidences of sexual harassment.
"Their behavior was despicable,” 73-year-old Captain Lee, who appeared on the original Bravo series Below Deck, shared, adding: "Both of them. And I’m sure they’ll be paying the price for it for a long time to come. As they should."
He also praised Captain Jason, who was woken in the middle of the night by Chief Stew Aesha Scott after earlier in the night sharing aloud her concern about the way Luke, the boat's bosun, had been speaking towards Margot Sisson.
When the crew returned to the ship, Aesha stayed with Margot and got her into bed, but producers were then forced to intervene when Luke entered Margot's room and removed his clothes before getting into her bed. Aesha heard the commotion and returned to the room before then waking Captain Jason, who removed Luke from the boat immediately.
"I don’t know if I would have had the wherewithal to remain as calm as Captain Jason did, but he certainly stepped up to the plate and did it right,” Lee told Us Weekly, acknowledging it was a "tough spot" but that "Jason handled it superbly".
The following morning Luke returned to the boat where Jason then fired him.
Aesha also told Captain Jason that Adam Kodra had shared his concerns that junior stew Laura had not respected his boundaries.
"She's just being a little too much, like hanging over me too much, kind of just like in my space. And I don't want to be rude to her or make her feel embarrassed, so I've been saying no in a playful manner," Adam told Captain Jason, who was also informed that Margot had been left in tears when Laura minimized her fears and told her that Luke was joking. Laura was also fired and removed from the boat.
"We had an incident last night and I want to stress that this is a place where we respect each other. Our cabin is our safety zone. That door is our boundary,” Jason told the crew. “That door is not to be opened unless it is consensual. To walk into someone else’s room without consent [while] indecent is my limit.”
Laura has since shared an apology on Instagram.
"My sincere apologies to Adam, I did not realize I made him feel uncomfortable and no one should be put in that position. And to Margot for not being able to empathize. I was 29 when the show was filmed, 30 was my life-changer. I am 31 now and I am watching it as all of you, an entertainment show," she wrote. Her account is now private.
Luke has yet to respond to the episode’s release. However his girlfriend Diana Maldonado replied to a fan and claimed "he was just acting".
"It's a TV show, not real life," she alleged.
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