By Leena Nasir
“Below Deck” alum Emile Kotze reportedly filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against NBCUniversal for $850 million.
Kotze claimed he became a star of the show’s third season in 2015 at the age of 23 and was told the show was to be filmed like a documentary, according to TMZ. The South African professional yacht deckhand alleged the show turned out to be a scandalous television drama and claimed producers pushed heavy drinking and effectively tricked him into humiliating situations. He was allegedly pushed into a fabricated romantic storyline alongside castmate Raquel “Rocky” Dakota.
Kotze’s filing alleged that producers of the show facilitated sexually charged activities and humiliating pranks and portrayed him as “immature” and “sexually aggressive,” according to TMZ.
The deckhand alleged that the show’s producers altered video in a “highly misleading manner to craft a false, defamatory portrayal” of him.
Producers claim Kotze’s lawsuit was filed past the statute of limitations for the majority of the allegations and claimed they were “unsupported by any plausible factual allegations,” according to TMZ.
They asserted that it’s their First Amendment right to “shape and convey their creative works” with editing and casting and editing, and argued that the legal system cannot be utilized to restrict their creative rights. (RELATED: Todd Nepola, Estranged Husband Of ‘Real Housewives’ Star Alexia Nepola, Sues Major Networks For $11 Million)
Kotze claimed he has been blacklisted from the yachting industry as a result of the show and has suffered serious psychological trauma and damage to his public image. He alleged he faces “PTSD, anxiety, and depression directly linked to the show experience,” according to TMZ.
