First Officer Eddie Lucas says that he told Rayna to report Heather to Captain Lee for saying the N-Word on Below Deck season 9, according to an exclusive report by Showbiz Cheat Sheet. Lucas also said he wanted Chief Stew Heather Chase fired for saying a racist slur and that he spoke to Deckhand Rayna Lindsey at length when she informed him of what happened.
Lucas’ claims completely fly in the face of what Rayna claimed in an Instagram Q&A. To fans, Lindsey said she was upset with Eddie for brushing off her telling him about the racist slur being used. Furthermore, episode 8 of Below Deck season 9 was edited so it looks like Lucas barely addressed Heather saying the N-Word.
If Eddie Is Truthful, Rayna is Lying About His Reaction To Heather Saying Racist Slur
Chase has faced a lot of backlash online since episode 8 aired. Rayna claims Eddie didn’t do anything at all when she told him about the incident. She also says that he was “pretty much outta pocket with the apology”.
On the other hand, Lucas is now telling a very different story.
“The conversation was probably about a half-hour long in real life,” he recounted. “And if you recall in the conversation that they did show, I did say that’s not okay. You know, if I heard that I would have said something. You need to say something and make sure that this is dealt with properly,” Lucas said in a private virtual event discussion called YourEncore.
Lucas also said, according to Showbiz Cheat Sheet, that Rayna didn’t want to go to Captain Lee despite him urging her to go.
“She didn’t want to. She just wanted to say, ‘Hey, this bothered me. This is why I was upset and I was fine.’ And I said, ‘OK, fine, but, you know, don’t let those problems that are happening at the time bother you.”
Rayna Is Also Mad At Captain Lee’s Response To Heather
Captain Lee Rosbach, hospitalized for spinal surgery last week, was also being attacked by Rayna and fans for his lack of reaction to Chase saying the N-Word.
Rayna says everyone on the crew apologized to her for what happened but Rosbach. Fans were upset with Captain Lee for not addressing the incident when he was live-tweeting during episode 8. However, he was recovering from surgery so may not have been aware of it. In Captain Lee’s blog post for the episode he said he would’ve swiftly addressed it had he known what happened.
Did Below Deck Producers Make Eddie Look Bad?
In the recent virtual talk, Eddie also blamed producers for falsely portraying his conversation with Rayna. Apparently, Eddie talked to Lindsey for half an hour! In the episode it looks like Eddie heard about Chase saying the racist slur and ended the conversation abruptly.
“It was actually a really good conversation that [Rayna and I] were having. And it’s just gotten spun into something different. But in no way would I ever brush racism under the rug. I am not okay with it in any way, shape, or form,” Lucas said.
He also said that the producers influenced how the controversial incident was handled on the boat afterwards. Lucas alleges that Below Deck producers didn’t want the topic discussed. He alleges production told him on multiple occasions to say nothing about it. He also says production was worried the controversy was going to “kill us”, perhaps meaning the show’s reputation and future.
He also claims he recommended Chase be fired and wanted to arrange a meeting including Chase, Lindsey and Captain Lee to address it.
Rayna doesn’t Accept Heather’s Apology
Rayna initially called out Heather using the N-Word the same night she said it. Back on My Seanna in the crew mess, Rayna explained how it was wrong for Heather to use the word. Heather denied saying it, and appeared to be very intoxicated when saying it. She was also repeating the same line Rayna had said when they were leaving the restroom together.
Fans are now calling for Chase to be edited off the rest of Below Deck season 9.
Below Deck Reddit users are demanding production to respond to Lucas’ allegations too.
