[reece(:]

Apparently Varner was suicidal afterwards

[Headie]

I just realised MICHAELA MADE MERGE

[Headie]

[Braden]

Ugh, I feel so bad for him. He made a terrible mistake and is now going to be made an example of for the rest of his life.

[Calderyon]

I think next week Tai is going to use one or both of his idols, since it´s 7 vs 6 now potentially causing someone from the other side leaving.

[reece(:]

Andrea live now with Natalie A. and Brice

https://www.facebook.com/PeopleEWnet...1281951403428/

[Calderyon]

Originally Posted by Braden

Ugh, I feel so bad for him. He made a terrible mistake and is now going to be made an example of for the rest of his life.

Not to mention never getting an invite to be back.

[reece(:]

Legend Kristie has videoed in

[Braden]

Jesus, that guy (Gordon?) is annoying.

[Headie]

We NEED Audrey on Survivor

[reece(:]

Originally Posted by Braden

Jesus, that guy (Gordon?) is annoying.

Dalton? He serves Spencer

[reece(:]

Andrea confirmed a two hour ep of Survivor next week (double)?

[Headie]

Sandra and Natalie A F2 confirmed for Survivor: Winners Edition

[reece(:]

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Okay, so clearly a lot to unpack here with Jeff Varner outing Zeke as trans on national television. Let’s start with your initial reaction when Jeff said that at Tribal Council.
JEFF PROBST: I’m pretty sure my reaction was the same as viewers watching at home. I saw Jeff Varner turn to Zeke and make what was essentially a statement — vaguely disguised as a question: “Why haven’t you told anyone here you’re transgender?” On one hand, it was such a tiny moment… so simple and quiet… that I wasn’t certain I heard what I heard. My brain had to rewind and play it back. And if you watch the reaction at Tribal, Zeke’s tribemates seemed to go thru the same moment. They heard it… but had to process it… and then once it landed they responded quite vocally. And while they were sharing their feelings with Varner, I was still running it in my head. This… just… happened.

It seems everyone on the tribe — Tai, Andrea, Ozzy, Debbie, Sarah — had their moment of telling Jeff in very strong language that what he did was completely unacceptable. What did you make of what I would describe as their unified disgust at what had happened?
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.


Witnessing that moment was so powerful because from my seat at Tribal, I could see it all. Varner was in the middle being attacked by angry tribemates while Zeke sat in the corner, outside of the action in what appeared to be a mild state of shock. It was one of the most surreal moments I’ve ever encountered on the show. From the outside, it looked and sounded like a regular Tribal Council but in reality, it was one of the most raw and painful studies of human behavior that has ever happened on Survivor.

Zeke was so composed in his response to what Jeff Varner did. How impressed were you with his reaction?
We knew Zeke was a tremendous storyteller with an amazing ability to take a specific moment from the game or life and give it a universal perspective. That’s why we asked him back to play a second time. And yet 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.


Watch PEN Fan Forum: Survivor, on the new PEOPLE/Entertainment Weekly Network (PEN) here, or download the free app on your Smart TV, mobile and web devices. And check out an exclusive deleted scene at the top of this post.

When you spoke with Zeke before his first season during the interview process, did the subject ever come up in terms of whether he planned to tell players he was trans and how he would handle it if someone brought it up?
My story with Zeke goes like this. I met Zeke in casting and loved him. I still have my original notes from that meeting. He was very engaging, gifted in his ability to manipulate with his words, and he wore this crazy Hawaiian shirt and had poofy hair. We knew we were doing Millennials vs. Gen X as a theme and we wanted him on the Millennials tribe immediately. It wasn’t until after he left that I was told he was transgender. From that point forward we agreed that if his story was to be told, he would be the one to decide when, where, and how.

As for someone else bringing it up, Zeke was fully aware someone might suspect it or bring it up and he said, “I will deal with it as it arises.” And I have to add it was never a question of Zeke being worried his story would come out. ,Zeke is a massive Survivor fan and his point with us was very clear — he wanted to be seen as a Survivor player. Not the first transgender Survivor player. I really respected that distinction and I understood it.

The tribe was clearly all shaken by this incident. How were you after Tribal Council finished?
I don’t really remember a lot about my own feelings in the moments after Tribal. I remember feeling that Zeke seemed very centered when he left Tribal, despite what he had gone through and I believed his tribemates would help him work through things back at camp. But we were in touch with the producer on the beach that night to just ensure everything was going okay.


And then the other concern was Jeff Varner. Although I do not condone on any level what Varner did, I was still aware that he was without any of his support group of family and friends. He would be returning to Ponderosa, where voted out contestants go, after making one of the worst decisions of his life. Fortunately, we have a full-time psychologist on staff who knows all of the contestants and is there to help them through any of the many things that come up on Survivor. I think those sessions in the days after the event helped Varner as he tried to make sense of everything.

Play Video
Have you spoken to Jeff Varner at all since this incident and do you think he is genuinely mortified by what he did?
I spoke with Varner the day after it happened and I think he was still in a bit of shock. It was clear he was upset and the realization of it all was still washing over him. I do believe he wishes he could take the entire event back. I hope Varner is able to take this moment and turn it into something positive. People make mistakes. Granted this happens to be a pretty severe one, but as you saw even with Zeke — there is hope that something good can come from this. That would be my wish… that Varner will seize this as an opportunity to be a catalyst for positive change by owning his mistake and moving forward in a new direction.

Finally, we always take a sneak peek at what’s coming up. I know we have a merge on the horizon. And I have to imagine the Nuku tribe will still be decompressing from what just happened.
I’m going to break tradition tonight and let the events of this very special episode breathe for a moment. But Survivor will be back next week… and someone will be voted out. The game continues.

http://ew.com/tv/2017/04/12/survivor...r-jeff-varner/

[JerseyWins]

Very boring episode, ok tribal council (but uncomfortable & still not the most enjoyable to watch).

Varner saying that was definitely uncalled for. Like they were saying, it's Zeke's right to mention being transgender or not and it wasn't right to throw that question/statement at Zeke like that. But as I do a lot, I'm going to come to the "bad guy's" defense. I think he felt really bad about it (first instinct was to defend himself but then I think he genuinely realized his mistake) and what he did definitely didn't seem like there was malicious intent to it, he wasn't attacking Zeke as a person or anything, he just didn't realize the severity/impact of mentioning it. The whole thing was a bit of an over-exaggeration to a mistake Varner made IMO - I feel like Sarah & even Jeff Probst went on too strong against Varner and maybe that's just because I felt like they were prolonging the issue idk. I honestly feel the worst for Varner after all that though especially with it being his final moment on the show. People say stupid things sometimes... I always like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Jeff is still an ok guy from what I can tell and I enjoyed him this season (again). He has been a mess for 3 seasons and this is probably why he's gone pre-merge all 3 times... he doesn't think about what he's saying before he speaks. And I love characters like that tbh; I probably like characters that have said/done worse.

Zeke took it well though and made a great example out of the whole situation.

And lol (but kinda annoying) @ Sarah using the situation to talk about herself and how much she's changed as an accepting person. It's only kinda funny just because it fits right up her alley but still a bit off-putting at the same time. I like her nonetheless but she didn't need to turn this into a transgender/gay issue or whatever she was getting at with her example about herself. The issue was just that Varner exposed Zeke in an uncomfortable situation and Zeke has the right/privacy to do that himself if/when he wants to do so. It was all just a little too much painting Varner as a malicious person for me. He does deserve some criticism for his action but not that much backlash from everyone (and I'm sure the backlash he's probably getting on social media too).

I'll still be a Jeff Varner fan personally.

[JerseyWins]

I just watched the TC again:

Youtube video

Honestly, Varner is even hilarious in this in a way... he looks like a madman with this desperate plea and his reactions to the backlash at first.

Forgot to mention... after the initial reactions calmed down and everyone started talking about it one by one, I really liked what Tai said.

Also, on second watch I guess there was a relevant point Sarah was making in the end so it doesn't come across as off-putting as much. I think the main thing was I didn't like how harsh she was on Jeff and then focused too much on accepting Zeke but I guess that was just her own view on it. It's more positive than I thought and I guess it's more related to the discussion than I originally thought too.

[VanessaFeltz.]

I think Varner knew it because some superfans really digged into information during last season, i knew it as well but wow.

[Marc]

Messy. But I do hope Zeke doesn't win because of this. It's a game at the end of the day and the best player should win.

[reece(:]

oop

[Braden]

Unpopular opinion: I actually felt more sorry for Varner than Zeke throughout that ordeal at tribal council.

Regardless, what he did was wrong. However, I find the reaction of most of the others to be disingenuous, Jeff Probst included. Survivor has explicitly capitalised on Zeke's story, though it could be argued that they were given no choice. I find it astounding that someone can sit there and say that they're cool with being outed (when they obviously weren't), and then bask in the glory. I was dumbfounded by how Zeke even took the opportunity to take the moment and apply it to the game (I can't remember what he said verbatim, but I found it to be apathetic—I don't think his words should be heralded the way they are, honestly).

I was shocked at the sheer audacity of Varner, and my jaw literally dropped when he outed Zeke. It still annoyed me how his tribe suddenly became LGBT activists and took the moral high-ground. I doubt most of those people would stick up for someone like Zeke in the real world. The OTT reaction from Andrea was cringe-worthy if I'm being completely honest. The only part I genuinely liked was when Zeke said something along the lines of:

"I fear being seen as Zeke—the player who is trans, I want to be known as Zeke—the Survivor player"

To which Debbie responded with: "You are."

The reason I feel more bad for Varner is because I feel that this may affect his life, based on a bad decision he made on a TV show. People have been glorified for bad behaviour in the past on this show, whether it can be argued that they're on the same scale; Russell Hantz has won the Fan Favourite Award twice (I hate to bring him up, but I personally find him to be an example of the fans double standards...He's a genuinely ****ty human being). Also, I find it rich that it took Survivor 33 seasons to eventually cast a trans person, to then laud Zeke with this edit (though production probably knew what Varner was going to do) even though they didn't bother to provide the trans community with representation for over ten years—better late than never, I suppose.

Idk, I found the matter really odd. I'm glad that the trans community are receiving more respect as a result, but I think this particular instance saw most people capitalise on the issue for self-gain, which is kind of icky to me.

[Braden]

Yes, I thought 'metamorphosis' was a strange choice of word, too. I thought so before the incident occurred.

[Calderyon]

I don´t usually agree with Corinne (probably because of my deep dislike), but she is on point with this one.

[reece(:]

Welp at Zeke's account

Playing with rookies was one thing, but playing alongside my Survivor heroes in a season called Survivor: Game Changers was quite another. It was like waking up in Westeros, Lord Zeke of the Mustache Lands, fighting to claim the Iron Throne. But instead of flying dragons with Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons, I trailed Ozzy, Master of Spear Fishing, out to the reef, dove down and watched him catch fish. Tai, the Chicken Whisperer, and I killed three chickens together. Debbie, the Woman with an Infinite Number of Jobs, told me about all of her jobs.

I’d been charmed by my cast mates’ quirks and touched by their stories. There’s no one whose journey resonated with me more than former local network news anchor Jeff Varner. Walking into the season, his story was that he’d played twice and never made the jury, the Survivor equivalent of making the playoffs. This was Varner’s third shot and likely his last. If he didn’t make the jury, he’d forever be remembered as the only three-time player to never do so.

To his credit, Varner received some bad breaks during his first two seasons, and in Game Changers, bad luck befell him once again. The numbers were not in his favor, but they were in mine, and I was excited to be on a tribe with him. I wanted the jury for him. I wanted to be the guy who made it happen.

Varner and I connected quickly. Events in his life back home drew him to seek an understanding of gay people’s place in Christianity. I studied religion in college, focusing specifically on LGBTQ people and the Bible. Though I’m not particularly religious, I feel passionately that people of faith should not be denied religious ritual or spiritual community because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and shared what I’d learned with Varner over long conversations on the beach.

I saw a pain, a brokenness in his eyes that felt all too familiar — a longing for the spotlight, but a desire to remain unseen. Though Varner has been openly gay for many years, he chose not to discuss his sexual orientation during his first two stints on the show. Beyond his charm and charisma, I thought I recognized a deep-seated insecurity and self-loathing, a glimpse at who I could become were I not careful.

All Varner had to do was make it until tomorrow and he’d get his jury seat. But he wasn’t going to. Our tribe proved unable to unscramble a word, metamorphosis, losing the Immunity Challenge and sending us to Tribal Council. Everyone’s best move was unquestionably to get rid of Varner.

My heart broke for him. I mulled over all the scenarios to save him, but each required me to significantly jeopardize my position. As much as I felt for the man, I wasn’t giving up my dream for his.

You never want a player to know they’re going home, because they might get desperate and go nuclear, douse the fire or pour out the rice. But my heart overrode my head when I sat down with him that afternoon. I told him he was going home. I thought he deserved to know it would be his last day on the beach.

Tribal Council throws the question of life and death into stark relief. One member of the tribe must be sacrificed each visit. Players ask each other: which one of us do we kill tonight? Fire, the flame of your torch, represents your life. When Probst snuffs that flame, your life is over. You exit to the left, into the darkness, what I called The Abyss. The rest of the tribe exits to the right, back to camp with a renewed lease on life.

Clearly, the stakes are not actually life and death. We’re a group of adults playing a very expensive game of make believe. But, despite all its deprivations, your Survivor life can be superior to your regular life.

I remember walking into Tribal Council that night. I remember the smell of the kerosene in our torches. I remember the smug smirk on his face and the gleam in his eye when he turned to me and snarled, “Why haven’t you told anyone that you’re transgender?”

The lights magnified in brightness. The cameras, though 30 feet away, suddenly felt inches from my face. All sound faded. Something primal deep inside me screamed: run. I lost control of my body, my legs bounced up and down uncontrollably, willing me to flee, but the rest of me sat dead as stone. To my left was The Abyss. I could’ve made a clean break for it, but I knew there was no running from what had happened. Cameras would follow me, if not that night, then eventually. Running was not an option. So I sat blank, almost in a trance, unaware of what happened around me, trying to form a plan.

Survivor had spun out of control. That’s the risk you take when you dance in the ethical borderlands, where you’ll betray a friend, swear on your mother, and lie to a priest all before you eat whatever meager crumbs count as breakfast. In Survivor, much is permissible which is typically objectionable, but there are limits, as there should be on a family-friendly reality show on network television.

It’s one thing to lie about someone sneaking off at night to search for hidden advantages. It is quite another to incense bigotry toward a marginalized minority.

Responsibility fell upon my shoulders to right the ship that had blown perilously far off course. I could let this be one of the worst moments of my life or one of the greatest. If I set the tone, everyone would follow. The power was in my hands.

I told myself, “Dude, you resolved to never stop playing. Buck up and make this OK.”

I am forever grateful that Probst gave me time to collect myself. Were I in the hands of a lesser leader, I’m sure questions would’ve been peppered my way before I was ready to receive them. I could not have responded in the manner in which I did had he not held the wheel while I got my bearings.

I tuned back in to the conversation and found chaos — tears, yelling, anger, but mostly confusion. I needed to calm everyone down. My chance to re-enter appeared — an opportunity to provide clarification. I spoke as calmly as I possibly could. Each word came slowly. Typically, my brain races far ahead of my ability to form words, but then it trudged, carefully selecting its path. My right leg settled down, but my left still jittered.

I took solace in my tribemates. They defended me passionately. Even Probst, the most neutral of arbiters, had my back. My left leg settled, and with it the group. Tears dried, voices lowered, and the attention turned to me to make sense of what happened. I didn’t know what to say.

Months before I plotted how I’d respond in case of such a disaster scenario, but those words were written a lifetime ago and nowhere in mind. I groped for direction, talking to kill time. Then, a single word appeared, the word I couldn’t find earlier in the day, the word that encapsulated my 50-plus days on the island: metamorphosis. Everything clicked. I sat up straight. My mind revved back up to full speed. As I spoke, l locked eyes with Probst, and he nodded along with me, as if to say, “Yes, yes, you’ve got it.” The ship was out of rough waters and back into placid seas.

I knew that Varner’s actions, though targeted at me, had nothing to do with me and everything to do with him. His terrible utterances were not an effect of my actions, but a reflection of his own personal maladies.

But in calling me deceptive, Varner invoked one of the most odious stereotypes of transgender people, a stereotype that is often used as an excuse for violence and even murder. In proclaiming “Zeke is not the guy you think he is” and that “there is deception on levels y’all don’t understand,” Varner is saying that I’m not really a man and that simply living as my authentic self is a nefarious trick. In reality, by being Zeke the dude, I am being my most honest self — as is every other transgender person going about their daily lives.

I don’t believe Varner hates trans people, just as I don’t believe conservative politicians who attack trans people actually care where we use the bathroom. For both, trans people make easy targets for those looking to invoke prejudice in order to win votes. Thankfully, my tribemates rebuffed his hateful tactics. After 18 days starving and competing with me, they knew exactly the man I am, and after that Tribal Council, we all knew exactly the man Varner is.


I looked to Varner, now the one hunched and quivering, and contemplated the backlash he would face. When he said what he said, he changed both of our lives forever. When he pulled me in for a hug, I felt compelled to reciprocate, both as a sign that I was willing to forgive him and that the shots he had fired missed.

But, if we’re being perfectly honest with one another, I’ve struggled with that forgiveness in the months following. I can’t foresee us sipping martinis together in Fire Island. While I can reconcile the personal slight of him outing me, I continue to be troubled by his willingness to deploy such a dangerous stereotype on a global platform.

But forgiveness does not require friendship. Forgiveness does not require forgetting or excusing his actions. Forgiveness requires hope. Hope that he understands the injury he caused and does not inflict it upon others. Hope that whatever torments his soul will plague him no more. I have hope for Jeff Varner. I just choose to hope from afar, thank you very much.

To adventure is to invite hazard into your life. The thrill of adventure comes from accepting this risk, and the reward from confronting whatever might be thrown at you. But you cannot control the hazards you face, be they repeated misfortune or the harmful actions of others. You can only control how you respond. It’s up to you to decide whether the hazard will define you or you will define the hazard.

At the conclusion of Tribal, Jeff Varner’s torch was snuffed. He walked into the darkness, and the rest of us headed back to camp.

There’s no special dispensation for a traumatic Tribal. No chocolate chip cookies. No phone call home. Just the dirt and the hunger and the honor of another day playing the world’s greatest game.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/liv...form=hootsuite

[reece(:]

Queens

[Braden]

Queen Debbie

I hope this incident (although it won't on a mass scale) is insightful to casual viewers in terms of what is good and what is bad in this game. Like, Debbie is harmless but receives such horrendous vitriol on social media.