I’ve been trying to decide whether to post about this situation at all. One of my many pet peeves is when people are outraged on behalf of a subset of people when they are not a member of that subset. So today I have been waiting for some outrage from the LGBT community over last night’s episode. So far I haven’t seen any of the main publications saying anything.
So I suppose I will.
As I was typing this post, my sister called and she asked if I had seen what happened on Survivor. It is a big topic of conversation everywhere. So in case you missed it, Check out the clip below. It is of the tribal council where the losing tribe votes someone off the island. In this case, Jeff Varner one of three gay men on this tribe knows that he is going home and literally does anything he can to prevent that from knocking him out of the game for a million dollars.
So that happened, You hear Jeff say, “Why haven’t you told anyone that you are transgender?” to Zeke. Then he says that being transgender is a form of deception, implying that if he was hiding his gender, he was hiding strategy in the game. First of all, everyone is hiding their game strategy and being deceptive in the game that is the nature of the game. Previous players have done some really crazy things. They build fake idols, they play tribe members against each other, they steal things solely for the purpose of implicating someone else. One season, a guy ironically going by the name Johnny Fairplay told his tribe during a visit by family members that he just found out his grandmother died so that they would give up their chance at an overnight visit with their family member for him. His grandmother was just fine. Johnny had told his brother (or whoever the family member was) to tell him that if he made it far enough in the game to get a visit. People thought that was pretty despicable. I thought it was wickedly ingenious. No one’s life was altered by not winning that reward challenge. This was downright horrible.
The Youtube above is a mere fraction of the tribal council that took up the entire last half of the episode. In the first half, he tried to convince his tribe to take out his ally Zeke or the strongest member, and biggest threat on the tribe. When Jeff tried to make it clear to Jeff that he had just outed Zeke to millions of people. Jeff defended himself saying that he thought everyone knew. That was a clear lie.
Jeff Varner made this statement about his behavior last night on Twitter
— Jeff Varner (@JEFFVARNER) April 13, 2017
The host of the show, Jeff Probst had the following to say in his exclusive interview with EW.com
In 34 seasons of Survivor, I have rarely, if ever, personally commented on what is said or done in the game. But this is a unique situation that falls outside the normal boundaries. I cannot imagine anyone thinking what was done to Zeke was okay on any level, under any circumstances, and certainly not simply because there was a million dollars on the line. I think the response from the tribe, as it so often does, mirrors what the vast majority of society will feel. You just don’t do that to someone.
Earlier in the game, teams had to spell out a word from lettered buoys to win a reward. The word was metamorphosis. Jeff had this to say about Zeke’s reaction to a sudden public outing .
I was still blown away by how he handled the entire situation. It was as if he had been preparing for this absolutely unpredictable, completely public, and incredibly vulnerable moment for his entire life. His composure was astounding. And when he connected the entire event to the word metamorphosis, I distinctly remember thinking — how in the world did you just do that?
I was also very impressed with the compassion Zeke showed Varner. I wonder if some people will say he shouldn’t have hugged him or shouldn’t have forgiven him. But as a viewer to that moment, I found his ability to still find some level of humanity for someone who had just injured him so severely, maybe his crowning moment.
And there is another moment that I hope was as inspiring for others as it was for me, and that was when Sarah told Zeke she was glad she got to know Zeke for who Zeke is and would never see him any other way. That moment — when a police officer from a conservative Midwest background without much exposure to the “gay and lesbian and transgender world” realized her own growth, her own metamorphosis, it completed the circle. This is how change and acceptance happens.
This story has been picked up by mainstream media including Time and The Washington Post. The one good thing to come of this horrendous attack on Zeke is the dialogue it is causing. What are your thoughts? Is all fair in love and Survivor?
I don’t watch this show and have never seen it, although I know about it generally speaking. I heard about what had been done today online and I found it completely classless and reprehensible that he would take it upon himself to make a life-altering choice on behalf of this person on a worldwide platform. The choice if and when to come out is a very private decision and based on so many factors including self acceptance, safety, stability, dependency and many other things. Somebody choosing to do this on your behalf with zero disregard for the consequences that it could cause in your life is completely disgusting!!
I was sickened and so very very sad when I watched this disgusting attack take place on Zeke last night. I kept thinking back about Varner, right before tribal council, saying to the camera “And I think I know something about Zeke”. This wasn’t Varner scrambling in the moment to find a way to save himself. It was premeditated. And that makes it a million times worse for me. And if I’m being 100% honest – as he is a gay man I hold him to a higher standard when it comes to something like this. I don’t know if that’s completely fair – but he’s experienced first hand the judgement that comes from living in a world with people who are still, unfortunately, small and closed minded. So for him, of all people, to out Zeke like that — there isn’t a strong enough word for the contempt I feel for him. Conversely, I was so proud and humbled by Zeke’s reaction. He’s an amazing man. He is EVERYTHING that Jeff Varner is not.
I do watch Survivor. I liked Zeke from Season 33 and enjoy watching him now. What Varner did was horrific but how Zeke handled it was impressive. I have read Zeke’s guest column published today (I don’t want to violate commenting rules) and he is truly awe-inspiring. I see him as a hero for many. It is awful it happened but It is opening discussion for people who maybe wouldn’t have had compassion for a trans person had they not already known Zeke as just Zeke first. I have never had an emotional moment watching Survivor until watching last night’s episode and I knew it was coming because the story was leaked.
I avoided media all day yesterday knowing I wouldn’t be home until late and didn’t want to see any spoilers. At first I thought it was a joke! But the look of shock and panic on Zeke’s face in that moment broke my heart. Brutal. I have enjoyed Varner but would have happily ran him down in the street last night if I had the chance!
Well it took until today for me to stop sobbing whenever I watched this despicable, reprehensible act of stupidity! I can’t believe how calm Zeke was and it says everything about his character for hugging Jeff after that. Only Jeff knows the truth of whether he said it because he thought everyone knew already #eyeroll and even if everyone did, it’s NO reason to use that part of Zeke’s life to save your game.There is no reason to bring out someone’s “private story to tell” ever! and now Jeff has to live with that decision for the rest of his life. I hope there is forgiveness for Jeff from the public someday because I truly believe he regrets this decision.
After the show aired, Varner was fired from his job as a real estate agent in NC. Long term, hard consequence for what he dud.
Who cares? One queen outed another queen. No one cares.
You’re an ass wipe.
Go back to the trash can that you crawled out off Bob.
Fuck-off Bob….. Can I say that TT? because he deserves it
You’re wrong. I don’t even watch this show and I care. Why? Because I’m a human being who feels empathy towards people who are attacked for no reason other than the color of their skin, what god they choose to worship, who they choose to love and many more reasons.
What this guy did was wrong on so many levels, there is no justification for it EVER.
Quite obviously, a great many people do care, hence the reportage and discussion.
Clearly you mean that you don’t care. This is your prerogative. I’m here to say THANK YOU. We can all relax and rest easy now that you have shared your hot take!
I was tortured by the suspense of wondering, “What does Bob think?” but now I know.
Also: go eat shit. Then go fuck yourself with a chainsaw. Afterwards, die in a fire. Again, Thanks!
I CARE.
Congratulations! You are the official winner of d’ head of the day! Proud moment in a day of your life?
And yet here you are taking the time to comment. You must care somewhat otherwise you wouldn’t be such a cunt scab.
Piss off for life.
I love Survivor, listen to podcasts, read blogs. I was in no way prepared for Varner’s vicious attack on Zeke. We’ve seen Varner in action before, and know he indeed delivered that bombshell with malice. Zeke has been my pic two seasons in a row and I admire him even more now. Varner will be known for his shameful act for the rest of his life. Zeke said it best himself, hate lost.
Forgiveness is divine. Way to turn the other cheek. One small step can be a giant leap for mankind.
Survivor producers could have not shown this and we would never had Zeke outed. They are partly to blame.
Probst did an interview with Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly. They know Zeke is trans and had discussed back in his first season about him being outed. He said then, he would deal with it if it happened. I like to think the Producers discussed it with Zeke before deciding on what to show.
Varner, of course, was also doing interviews today. He blames the show. Said he only outed Zeke to 6 people. The show outed him to millions. Asshat.
They worked with Zeke and GLAAD for months to present what happened as best as they could. I think it’s the right decision, ultimately, because it it was just a weird “something happened but we’re not showing it,” a la ANTM a few years back, rumors would be flying.
I thought the same thing..they could have said Varner got ate by a shark or omitted it like Bravo did with Brandi’s comments about Adrienne, but it still would have came out. It was truly an awful thing to do and I can’t imagine ever doing something like that to a fellow human being.
Jeff Garner outs Zeke Smith as the bigger person!
I love this!
I watched it live last night and my jaw d r o p p e d. It was sickening, it was absolutely sickening. It is NOT all fair in love & Survivor. This is his own personal thing; his own identity. People lying about their occupations all the time, that is one thing, but keeping an intimate detail very close & private for the fear that you would be judged and looked dow upon? That is HIS own right. I was very disappointed in what Varner did..I’ve watched almost every season of Survivor, and what I watched tonight was just disheartening. In the world we live in today, being different than someone, whether it’s a different color on your skin, a different opinion in politics, a different gender or even a different name, all of these factors will make or break your future, give you more or less opportunities than the person opposite from you. Varners’ actions were despicable and I am just completely shocked and dismayed. Being different and your own person in todays world takes a copious amount of courage. While Varner was desperate, he still had NO right, in ANY sense to out Zeke like that, and that was a piss-poor excuse to portray that he was being deceptive by hiding a PERSONAL attribute. What was on TV last night was disappointing, shocking, infuriating and repugnant.
My thoughts, prayers & words of encouragement go out to Zeke for being so strong and keeping his composure throughout this completely tumultuous time.
To anyone else who is apart of the LGBT community, who has a secret or anything of the sort:
-Regardless of what it is, you are loved, you will continue to be cared for & you are strong. You will persevere and you will do great things as you embody your own person and become a shining star. Be an ally, be a friend, be a good person. Everyone is fighting a battle that you know NOTHING about; “from the outside looking in, you would think that I’m just fine, but I’m a bigger wreck than the titanic inside.”
Other than our friend Bob and all of his carbon copies spread out across the internet, I don’t think I’ve really seen anyone say, “Well, it’s a game. Lighten up.” It’s so lovely to see so much compassion.
They will show it anyway, not that I agree with it, but they will show it. Bravo showed the downhill slide to Russell’s SUICIDE , that was horrible! I am not saying I agree, it was Zeke’s business, they should have kept it out, but they wont.
You think Probst would have addressed Zeke about his thoughts and feelings right in the beginning of this public humiliation, but he didn’t. Instead he addressed everybody else and their emotions while the camera focused on Zekes shocked expression. And although I know all these players sign a contract stating that the producers can show them in any light they see fit, if Probst didn’t get Zeke’s concent to show what happened to him, then Probst and Survivor are really no better than Jeff Varner was.
I also call bullshit on the presenter or anyone affiliated with production or the show going public and saying how awful it is.
It didn’t have to be shown. How about shame on Jeff, but also the producers, editors and TV channels who chose to show it.
That’s like me filming someone punching a baby and then posting it on Facebook saying how awful it is, thinking, “Ooooooh this will get so many Likes.”
Deplorable, the lot of them.
They did not show that the Goats (mom and baby) were in fact killed and eaten. So no they did not have to show this to millions. Think they did it to make themselves look good. Look at us we are so progressive. my question is did no other players truly not know after 3 times he has played? no questions of the scars on his chest? An I get that Varner thought he was out to everyone at home just not on the island.
THEY REALLY ATE THE GOATS?????
Yes. sandra gave interview about it. She was not tge driving force but the guy who was voted out before her.
They stopped showing them actually killing the animals with cute faces they eat because PETA had a cow when they killed the chickens on camera the first season they got chickens. Tai likely won’t let them eat the chickens again this season. Because, idiot.
The Producers worked with Zeke on how it would be edited. They knew about Zeke when Zeke did his first season. Zeke did an interview yesterday and said he would handle it, if and when it came up. He handled it beautifully.
I have lots of thoughts on this, I have watched every episode of Survivor and watched this in real time, and it floored me. Not only what Varner did, but how the rest of the episode was handled. Varner was wrong, and it was premeditated absolutely. I do think living like that really fucks with peoples’ heads. I assume Varner’s remorse is real, he thought he was making a good move and did not realize what a horribly stupid and unkind
and basically WRONG thing he was doing. He was obviously full of regret, though it may have nothing to do with Zeke directly. Guaranteed Varner’s life is pretty unpleasant right now!
The most amazing television was how everyone handled it, their genuine reactions, how kind they were to Zeke, how Zeke himself was amazingly gracious, and how Probst managed to let things play out. He called Varner out, was empathetic to Zeke, and let everyone express themselves. He waited to let Zeke absorb what was happening before coming to him. He is the best reality show host by far, Andy Cohen has so much to learn from this guy. At the very end though, they showed a video clip of Zeke’s scars, which were avoided during the rest of the episode. That was pretty messed up.
That scene had to be shown, it will affect the rest of the show. It cant be undone. These people sign their lives away to join this show, sadly it is the chance they take.
“Survivor night” has been our “family night” for as long as it has been on tv. My son was in 1st grade when it started. We always put in $5, pull names out of a hat at the beginning of the season, and have pizza night on Survivor night. The only excuse not to be there for family night was a school sport in which you were involved, or work–in which case, we taped it and had the viewing when we could all be there. For years when my husband was deployed, I would tape the show (on VHS), ship it to wherever he was, then we would set a time to watch it “together.” (technology back then wasn’t such that we could facetime or anything but we knew we were watching it “together.” I would just avoid any coverage of the show until I found out what happened. Anyway, time has evolved, my family has evolved. The only thing that has changed is “Family Night” moved from Thursday to Wednesday (a few years ago). The reason I typed all this out was because Wednesday night was the only night I have EVER cried at a tribal counsel. . . EVER. It was just so wrong on every level. I’ve never been a Zeke or Varner fan (and I have a side-bet with my son that Debbie wouldn’t go before Zeke and now I’ve just lost $20!) Despite the fact that neither I, nor anyone in my immediate family are LGBTQIA or not, we were ALL outraged. You. Just. Don’t. Do. That!
Painful to watch! No excuse to do that to someone.
What Varner did was unconscionable cruelty. His remorse at tribal felt like it was about his concern for how others reacted to him, not actually what he did to Zeke. I had to watch the whole episode twice. I was so stunned I couldn’t believe what had happened.
I’m super conflicted about CBS airing it. I know they are saying Zeke was consulted but I can only imagine the pressure put on him to ‘approve’.
One thing that I’ve thought about since is the scene in Zeke’s first season where the adorable cop came out to him. He said that it was so different for his generation who had to hide their sexuality vs Zeke’s. I think Zeke even said he’d always been out – since high school. This makes me want to know more and now I feel like an insensitive voyeur.
Zeke and his teammates showed so much class. How they reacted was beautiful and a teaching moment but it was not worth the expense of someone’s private life being exposed.
That was despicable. I can’t believe he didn’t punch him in the fucking throat.
When you go on these shows you sign away all of your rights to privacy. This includes YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS. And every other detail of your life. Zeke did not mention he was transgender to the casting people, because he didn’t want to be cast for that reason. He did tell production at some point during or before his first season. He knew that it might happen. He knew that if it did it would be on TV. It was his desire and win and THEN tell everyone at the finale.
His seasons were filmed back to back. His first season had not even aired when the second one was filming. He had made it through one season without anyone picking up on his transition. Survivor was always going to air it, the real issue was that Varner outed him, not that Survivor aired it.
That said, it is quite convenient that Survivor has a trans person on the show right when it is the hot topic of pretty much every show on TV.
You last sentence pretty much summed it up for me. Also, people love to be outraged.
What a country! – Yakov Smirnoff
Varner lost me with the throat punch comment. He then proceeded to shoot Zeke with one of those James Bond pistols that shoots backwards and kills the shooter and not the shootee . Zeke handled himself beautifully. The shocked and disgusted tribe members handled themselves well. I was glad Porbst did not send them to vote privately,he also wanted Varner off the island.
There is a lot of buzz in survivor circles that CBS/Probst wanted Zeke outted for their own storyline purposes, during his previous season as well as this one. Producer manipulation of players does indeed happen on these shows and if you’ve ever seen “Unreal” you know what kind of thing I’m talking about. Anyways, the speculation is that the producers encouraged this to take place and let Varner take the fall for it. I don’t know what happened for sure as I wasn’t there but I think there’s a lot of truth in this theory. I’m not defending what Varner did, but I do feel that he genuinely feels horrible about it and I feel CBS is just as responsible for outting him as Varner is. They push BIG MOVES all the time and encourage players to fight with everything they’ve got to win. How many times do they bring up how Ciera voted out her mom? They love that shit. They also could have used some editing magic to keep this issue under wraps if they had really wanted to. But CBS will stop at nothing for ratings and buzz and that’s what they got. Its a sad situation for everyone involved but I think CBS is just as responsible as Varner, if not more so. Varner has always been a class act and a fun player to watch over the years and it just sucks that this is how he will be remembered in his survivor legacy.
“Producer manipulation of players does indeed happen on these shows…” WHAT????!!!!! Please tell us more. How do they do this? Please give everyone time to gather around for the startling information that you gleaned from a scripted TV show!
Well yeah, it does. Lol. Most of the comments I’ve read so far, excluding yours and a few others don’t seem to be taking this factor into account and seem to want Varner strung up and quartered for the terrible thing he did. I’m just saying we didn’t see the whole story, not even close. We saw what CBS wanted us to see.
I was using Unreal as an example that I assume most are familiar with. That’s not where I’m gleaming my information from. Also Varner just got fired from his job as a result of this mess.
Gee. It sucks when someone loses their job. I have a job too. I have been writing about how reality television works for the past six years or so.
We discuss things like production and editing and behind the scenes of filming here all the time.
So, you know. I was being sarcastic when you busted in with the knowledge that reality shows edit episodes to appear a certain way, BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT WE TALK ABOUT HERE ALL DAY LONG.
Fair point. I’m glad you are all aware and are not in need of my enlightenment. Yeah it does suck that he lost his job on top of being universally hated and the subject of a story that’s getting national coverage right now. I’m sure he’s in his own personal hell right now. I don’t think he’s a malicious person at all. He just made a big mistake and he’s paying for it in a big way and I feel bad for the guy.
If Varner could have stopped sandwiching excuses in between apologies yesterday I MIGHT buy that his tears were for someone besides himself. But, nope. I don’t buy his apology. Let him spend a few years donating his time to trans causes in a behind the scenes way, and stop making excuses, and then I might listen.
I’m conflicted. I’m glad the dialogue was started and maybe a few people will learn things about trans issues. For real, I think that’s great. And trans men are particularly UTR because white male privilege (See Caitlyn Jenner).
I also have limited sympathy for the fame whores who populate these shows. So the whole thing seems a touch contrived.
I really wanted your take on this but I needed 48 hours before I could even read the post. I’m a big Zeke AND Varner fan. I got so excited when they started working together. This outing broke my heart. The look on Zeke’s face said it all. I always thought anything is fair in Survivor but I was wrong. The upside is now millions of people feel like they know a trans person. Visibility is crucial to acceptance. I just hope Zeke won’t be known as the trans Survivor player. He deserves to be known as Zeke, Survivor All Star.