‘Below Deck Down Under’: Captain Lee Rosbach Says Fired Crew Members ‘Should Pay The Price’ For ‘Despicable’ Sexual Misconduct
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Captain Lee Rosbach is speaking out on the sexual misconduct incidents that took place on this week’s episode of “Below Deck Down Under”.
During Monday’s episode, Luke Jones and Laura Bileskalne were both fired as a result of their “despicable” behaviour, as Rosbach described while chatting with Us Weekly.
“I’m sure they’ll be paying the price for it for a long time to come. As they should,” the “Below Deck” captain told the outlet.
When the “Down Under” crew returned to the superyacht after a night spent drinking alcohol off the boat, Jones climbed into third stew Margot Sisson’s bed naked and “without consent” while she was asleep, despite the fact that she’d made it clear she didn’t want him in her cabin.
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— Photo: Laurent Basset/Bravo
— Photo: Mark Rogers/Bravo
Chief stewardess, Aesha Scott — who has her own history with sexual assault after drinking — quickly acknowledged the dangerous situation and notified Captain Jason Chambers, who then immediately kicked Jones off the boat that night before his employment as a bosun was terminated the following morning.
— Photo: Mark Rogers/Bravo
One day after the incident, viewers saw second stew, Laura Bileskalne, also get fired for her inappropriate reaction to Jones’ actions, and for a separate incident that occurred the night before, in which she behaved inappropriately toward deckhand, Adam Kodra.
— Photo: Bravo
Rosbach, 73, applauded the swift measures that were taken by production — Chambers and Scott — to ensure the crew’s safety, emphasizing how “impressed” he was.
“I don’t know if I would have had the wherewithal to remain as calm as Jason did, but he certainly stepped up to the plate and did it right,” Rosbach commended his fellow captain for “not getting rattled” during the fraught affair.
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— Photo: Mark Rogers/Bravo
The superyacht captain added that he’s “grateful” he’s never been in a similar situation.
“It’s a tough spot to be in,” Rosbach recognized. “When there’s the captain you’re responsible for everything and anything that does happen. Jason handled it superbly.
“They all stepped up to the plate and did the right thing at the appropriate time and didn’t let anything get carried away,” he continued. “Didn’t put it on the back burner, didn’t cover it up. They just dealt with it appropriately.”
— Photo: Mark Rogers/Bravo
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After the episode aired, Chambers, 50, took to social media to address matters in a video, saying he hoped his ex crew members were on a post-departure “journey to better themselves.”
“I’ve had a flood of messages over the last 24 hours from people in similar situations,” he said in the clip, “some not so lucky of the outcome, so my heart goes out to them.”
He then thanked “the production team for breaking the fourth wall, and stepping in. Then reforming and allowing Aesha to come to me in an authentic manner and us dealing with it as we would as captain and crew.”
“Below Deck Down Under” airs on Bravo, Mondays at 8 p.m. ET. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.
