Uproar After "Survivor" Contestant Is Outed as Transgender

SURVIVOR GR - ΕΠΕΙΣΟΔΙΟ 38 FULL (10/4/17)

No matter how heartfelt the outrage was, the controversy itself was premeditated. the survivor episode was filmed months ago and the producers and CBS had a choice to make about whether to air the footage outing Mr. Smith on national television.

Once the decision to do so was made, Mr. Smith and his defenders prepared responses in the time before the broadcast of the episode. Several opinion columns on the matter were even written in advance, in effect highlighting the outing and stoking the reactions. And some critics have subsequently placed the blame with CBS, for airing it.

Mr. Smith himself wrote a column for The Hollywood Reporter published on Wednesday night, timed to the broadcast of the episode, and he also spoke to People about the episode.

When I got on a plane to Fiji last March, I expected to get voted out third, Mr. Smith, who is an asset manager in Brooklyn, wrote in The Hollywood Reporter. Id return home, laugh at my misadventure, and go about my life, casually trans in the same way that Zac Efron is casually Jewish.

He continued: 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 yall dont understand, Varner is saying that Im 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.

Reaction poured in.

Zeke Smith, and transgender people like him, are not deceiving anyone by being their authentic selves, and it is dangerous and unacceptable to out a transgender person, Nick Adams, an official with Glaad, the group formerly known as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said in a statement. It is heartening, however, to see the strong support for Zeke from the other people in his tribe. Moments like this prove that when people from all walks of life get to know a transgender person, they accept us for who we are.

Glaad said it had worked with Mr. Smith and CBS; the episode was not broadcast live.

Viewers were unforgiving.

The worst, cruelest moment ever on Survivor, one wrote on Twitter.

Stunned, another fumed. Cant believe anyone would take it to that level.

Mr. Varner, a real estate agent from High Point, N.C., published an apology to his Facebook and Twitter accounts shortly after the episode aired.

Yep. I did that, he wrote. And I offer my deepest, most heartfelt apologies to Zeke Smith, his friends and life allies, his family, and to all those who my mistake hurt and offended. I recklessly revealed something I mistakenly believed everyone already knew. I was wrong and make no excuses for it. I own responsibility in what is the worst decision of my life.

He added, Let me be clear, outing someone is assault.

Mr. Probst, who has hosted the American version of the show since its inception in 2000, told Entertainment Weekly that this was a unique event. In 34 seasons of Survivor, I have rarely, if ever, personally commented on what is said or done in the game, he said. I cannot imagine anyone thinking what was done to Zeke was O.K. on any level, under any circumstances, and certainly not simply because there was a million dollars on the line.

Some on social media pointed out that CBS could have chosen not to air the segment. No Probst, YOU told millions of people. #Survivor, the recent contestant Max Dawson wrote on Twitter. Another former contestant, Eliza Orlins said on Twitter that including the outing moment was unavoidable. No way to edit around it. Yikes.

(Two spokeswomen for the show did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.)

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Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNES-09gUZpOPMqbGoVqcVZ-wZ6R4Q&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52779458095864&ei=g7zvWNDHF4bI3gGjtaqwCg&url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/arts/television/survivor-contestant-transgender.html

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Uproar After "Survivor" Contestant Is Outed as Transgender

Survivor Greece: Ολόκληρο το συμβούλιο και η αποχώρηση του Χανταμπάκη 11/4/2017

No matter how heartfelt the outrage was, the controversy itself was premeditated. The Survivor episode was filmed months ago and the producers and CBS had a choice to make about whether to air the footage outing Mr. Smith on national television.

Once the decision to do so was made, Mr. Smith and his defenders prepared responses in the time before the broadcast of the episode. Several opinion columns on the matter were even written in advance, in effect highlighting the outing and stoking the reactions. And some critics have subsequently placed the blame with CBS, for airing it.

Mr. Smith himself wrote a column for The Hollywood Reporter published on Wednesday night, timed to the broadcast of the episode, and he also spoke to People about the episode.

When I got on a plane to Fiji last March, I expected to get voted out third, Mr. Smith, who is an asset manager in Brooklyn, wrote in The Hollywood Reporter. Id return home, laugh at my misadventure, and go about my life, casually trans in the same way that Zac Efron is casually Jewish.

He continued: 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 yall dont understand, Varner is saying that Im 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.

Reaction poured in.

Zeke Smith, and transgender people like him, are not deceiving anyone by being their authentic selves, and it is dangerous and unacceptable to out a transgender person, Nick Adams, an official with Glaad, the group formerly known as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said in a statement. It is heartening, however, to see the strong support for Zeke from the other people in his tribe. Moments like this prove that when people from all walks of life get to know a transgender person, they accept us for who we are.

Glaad said it had worked with Mr. Smith and CBS; the episode was not broadcast live.

Viewers were unforgiving.

The worst, cruelest moment ever on Survivor, one wrote on Twitter.

Stunned, another fumed. Cant believe anyone would take it to that level.

Mr. Varner, a real estate agent from High Point, N.C., published an apology to his Facebook and Twitter accounts shortly after the episode aired.

Yep. I did that, he wrote. And I offer my deepest, most heartfelt apologies to Zeke Smith, his friends and life allies, his family, and to all those who my mistake hurt and offended. I recklessly revealed something I mistakenly believed everyone already knew. I was wrong and make no excuses for it. I own responsibility in what is the worst decision of my life.

He added, Let me be clear, outing someone is assault.

Mr. Probst, who has hosted the American version of the show since its inception in 2000, told Entertainment Weekly that this was a unique event. In 34 seasons of Survivor, I have rarely, if ever, personally commented on what is said or done in the game, he said. I cannot imagine anyone thinking what was done to Zeke was O.K. on any level, under any circumstances, and certainly not simply because there was a million dollars on the line.

Some on social media pointed out that CBS could have chosen not to air the segment. No Probst, you told millions of people. #survivor, the recent contestant Max Dawson wrote on Twitter. Another former contestant, Eliza Orlins said on Twitter that including the outing moment was unavoidable. No way to edit around it. Yikes.

(Two spokeswomen for the show did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.)

Continue reading the main story

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNES-09gUZpOPMqbGoVqcVZ-wZ6R4Q&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52779458095864&ei=I6TvWMiyEYLFqgLtj5SABA&url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/arts/television/survivor-contestant-transgender.html

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Survivor Cast Evacuates for the First Time in 33 Seasons: Watch the Dramatic Escape

Destiny"s Child - Survivor (Official Video) ft. Da Brat

Survivor has pitted members of two frequently sparring generations against each other for its landmark 33rd seasonMillenials and Gen Xers are facing off in the Vanua and Talaki tribesbut they had to come together in the premiere when everyone from the cast was evacuated from Fiji due to a dangerous cyclone that was heading straight toward the camps on just the second day of competition.

Obviously evacuating the teams is the last resort, so before the tribes had to leave their camps, host Jeff Probst and the producers sent each of them a tarp.

"This is an unusually powerful storm and it"s going to last a bit longer. I know you haven"t had enough time to build a shelter, so as a gesture of goodwill I"m offering this tarp as protection until you can build your own. When the weather clears, bring it back to me," read the tree mail note.

Some of the smarter contestants could tell that the tarp meant something horrible, and sure enough, Probst himself paid a visit to both camps just a few hours later.

"The storm is getting worse so we sent the tarp over this morning; thought maybe that would help you guys weather it, but in the last few hours it"s been upgraded again. It is now a cyclone and the prediction is tonight it"s going to be much harder than last week. So, for the first time in 33 seasons of Survivor, we are going to evacuate," he told the Vanua tribe.

Naturally, production still got artsy shots of the Millenials evacuating, but the Gen Xers didn"t have enough time for those before nature took its course.

The next morning, both tribes returned to destructionand a large tree had fallen on the shelter wehre the Talaki tribe had intended to sleep.

"That was definitely a saving grace that Jeff made that decision to do that," praised one of the evacuees.

Watch the scary moment above! Survivor airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBS.

Source: http://www.eonline.com/news/796764/survivor-cast-evacuates-for-the-first-time-in-33-seasons-watch-the-dramatic-escape

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Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker review: total package

Game Info Platform DS, 3DS Publisher Atlus Developer Atlus Release Date 2012-02-28

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker is one of the most inspired and successful blending of multiple genres that I've ever seen come out of Japan.

As a developer, Atlus' strength is largely in fairly traditional turn-based role-playing games, andRecord Breaker definitely takes advantage of that. But that's only the bottom-most layer of gameplay. The turn-based battles are wrapped in a cloak of strategy gameplay, which is then clothed in a heavy narrative coat of choice-based visual novel stylings.

What's especially impressive about Devil Survivor 2 is not just how it draws on these various, disparate styles of gameplay. Rather, I was thrilled by the way it ties them so tightly together and finds ways for each to interact with each other in a way that feels natural.

Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker begins like a deliciously evil urban legend: The player-created protagonist and his friend Daichi download a new smartphone app called Nicaea. The rumor going around school is that this app will send you videos of your friends dying before it happens. Sure enough, within minutes of our heroes signing up, they receive videos of each other dying in a horrible subway accident.

Devil Survivor 2 builds on one of the strengths of Shin Megami Tensei: It's not another fantasy RPG

While the main characters are (of course) able to avoid their deaths, things only get worse from there as a mysterious disaster strikes Tokyo and demons appear all over the city. The story follows the protagonist, Daichi, and a ragtag group of friends they assemble as they explore a post-apocalyptic Japan and try to figure out what exactly happened.

This fun setup builds on one of the long-running strengths of the Shin Megami Tensei franchise: It's not another generic fantasy RPG. Sure, there are some anime tropes at play here particularly with the protagonists being "chosen ones" of a sort with a special power that allows them to battle the forces of evil but generally the characters are all regular teenagers with regular teenager attitudes and issues. The extraordinary situation they're thrust into lends the game an air of mystery and suspense, but it never feels like it totally overrides the simple human drama of young people confronting their own mortality in the wake of a huge disaster.

Of course, they're also given some agency in how they respond to the disaster, which comes in two forms. First, narratively: Record Breaker's story progresses via lengthy, fully-voiced cutscenes. Players are usually given anywhere from two-to-five options of which area to visit next, and depending on the path, you may recruit new characters, save lives or lose allies whose cries for help you ignored. The penalties can feel harsh, but they never feel arbitrary; I was given plenty of warning and time to prepare for battles where a character's survival in the plot was on the line.

To save these characters, you'll need to master the second form of agency for our heroes: Record Breaker's excellent combat system. Every time you enter a combat scenario, you can bring a party of up to four human characters. Each human can be flanked by two different demon companions, essentially giving you four groups of three characters each. Those groups move around individually on an overhead, grid-based map a classic strategy game setup.

It's not that simple, though. In an interesting twist on genre norms, when one group clashes with another on the battlefield, the view switches to a traditional turn-based RPG combat screen. Both the player and enemy teams go through a single round of combat and then are placed back out on the battlefield screen.

I always felt on the verge of failure but with all the necessary information to how to improve What's new

Record Breaker is technically a 3DS re-release of the original Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2, which came out on the original Nintendo DS in 2012. But rather than a straight port, Atlus has gone back and added quite a bit to the game.

Most notably, Record Breaker includes a complete second campaign that picks up where the original game's story ended. Though it's not quite as long, this add-on is still meaty, easily packing an extra 30 hours onto the already lengthy original campaign. It also twists the story in some fun new directions that fans of the original game will probably want to see for themselves.

The other big addition to Record Breaker is full voice acting, including in the original campaign. Atlus has returned to the original script and recording new voiceovers for every human character demons and other enemies remain unvoiced, but that eerie silence fits the bizarre creations of this series.

Beyond those two changes, Record Breaker is full of tiny quality of life improvements, such as the ability to fast-forward past events to improve replays of the game. It also includes an easier difficulty setting, a godsend for less hardcore fans who still want to experience this excellent game.

In a worse game, this extra layer to combat could have felt unnecessary. After all, many strategy RPGs have had plenty of depth with just strategy combat with two sides clashing and taking turns on the map alone. But Record Breaker builds something wonderfully complex yet not overwhelming out of its multi-level battles. I found myself pulled in by the process of putting together the perfect team of demons, picking the best spells to cast on any given turn of a battle, optimizing my chances for critical hits which grant bonus attacks. I always felt on the verge of failure but with all the necessary information to how to improve when I failed a tension that made my successes feel outstanding.

As with other Shin Megami Tensei games, Record Breaker also throws a Pokemon-style demon collection meta-game on top of everything. By purchasing demons at an auction house, you can bring them to your side. From there, you can fuse demons together to form new monstrosities that carry over some of the skills of the previous generation.

There is a frankly absurd amount of depth to this formula, though much of it is blessedly optional. If you want to spend hours grinding for cash and extra levels to put together the most incredible, overpowered team of demons possible, you're allowed to do so via "Free Battles" on the map screen. As someone who's not as obsessed with min-maxing, I was able to keep moving on with the story with a limited but enjoyable amount of time spent messing around with the make-up of my demon army.

Source: http://www.polygon.com/2015/5/20/8632353/shin-megami-tensei-devil-survivor-2-record-breaker-review-smt-persona

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The 'Survivor' final five speaks (and blasts Reed for his 'wicked stepmother ...

[SPOILER ALERT: Read on only if you have already watched the season finale of Survivor: San Juan del Sur.]

Throughout their time on The Amazing Race, twinnies Natalie and Nadiya Anderson were a love em or loathe em pair. And nowhere was that better demonstrated than on thisseason of Survivor: Nadiya was the very first person voted out, and last night Natalie was voted the one million dollar winner of Survivor: San Juan del Sur. Just 12 hours after her victory, Natalie called into Entertainment Weekly Radio (SiriusXM, channel 105)still drunk, I might addto talk all about her big moves leading up to the final vote. And you can now hear that entire drunken interview right here on the InsideTV Podcast. But the thing Natalie seems most fired up about was Reeds brutally harsh takedown of her competitor Missy as a wicked stepmother at the final Tribal Council. A few of Natalies comments:

I wanted to get up and cuss Reed out.

I would have cussed Reed out if I wasnt trying to win a million bucks.

Reed is a little bit of a diva.

I probably would have sucker-punched Reed right there.

Clearly, this is an interview you need to hear for yourself. But thats not all. We also spoke with the entire final five, meaning we also got reactions from both Missy and Baylor as to Reeds rant. What did they think then and what do they have to say about it now? A few highlights:

Missy says Reed is a performer and describes his comments as completely uncalled for. She also calls his Christian standards into question, saying you should walk the talk in life.

Missy calls Reeds non-apology at the reunion a bunch of hogwash.

Missy says Reed voted for Jaclyn to spite me. (Because his vote gave Jaclyn the second place prize money and dropped Missy down to third.)

Meanwhile, Baylor calls the event the worst thing I could have imagined happening at a final Tribal Council, and labels Reeds non-apology as typical.

But not all the opinion towards Reeds words is negative. We also spoke with runner-up Jaclyn and asked Miss Michigan about her thoughts on Reedgate: I thought it was great, she said (no doubt because it helped her at the final Tribal) while adding that Reed was not the only person who felt that way about Missy: A lot of people didnot just Reed. Jaclyn also talks about her big come-from-behind challenge win (turns out she went up and down the stairs twice because she messed up the first time on the numbers), whether she thought she had won the million dollars, and if she regrets taking Natalie to the end.

Plus, Keith answers the one question weve all been thinking: Dude, did you have any idea whatsoever what the h**l you were doing out there? His answer: No idea. He also explains his huge stick to the plan screw-up and why the h**l he spits so much.

Itsyour ultimate one-stop shopping to hear from the entire final five (the interviews happen in reverse order of finish, so Baylor first and Natalie last). Just click on the audio player below to get the complete inside scoop on what went down on Survivor: San Juan del Sur. Or, since were on iTunes, you cansubscribe for free and take the podcast with you. No iTunes? No problem. You can also download the entire podcast right here. To send a question to the InsideTV Podcast team, follow us on Twitter @InsideTVPodcast. And to hear more interviews and television discussion and debate, check out Entertainment Weekly Radio on SiriusXM, channel 105.http://pdl-stream.timeinc.net/EW/podcasts/audio/2014/12/InsideTVcast_20141218_dl.mp3

Source: http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/12/18/survivor-natalie-jaclyn-missy-keith-baylor-san-juan-del-sur/

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Twin Killing! Natalie Wins Season Finale Of 'Survivor'

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) In the end, Natalie Anderson was named the ultimate Survivor in the shows season finale and walked away with the $1 million prize.

Survivor: San Juan del Sur, the shows 29th installment, began with 18 loved ones pitted against one another in the series second Blood vs. Water match.

Natalie, a crossfit coach, started the game with her twin sister Nadiya, the first person voted out of the game.

The 28-year-old twins hail from Edgewater, N.J., and appeared on Amazing Race twice.

This was a season rife with twists (the requisite backstabbing) but more blindsides than normal.

Trust was a big issue this season with people openly (and sometimes strangely) calling each other out moments before an elimination vote. There may also have been a record number of castaways who lied about having hidden immunity idols; sometimes the lie worked, but often it didnt.

Type A personalities, including John Rocker, the controversial former Major League Baseball player who endeared himself to no one with a Sports Illustrated article in whichhe famously disparaged New Yorkers, Asians, gays, blacks, minorities, people who rode the 7 train and punk rockers. After being recognized by some of his tribe members, Rocker had a target on his back.

The final three included Anderson, Missy Payne, a cheerleader from Texas, and former Miss Michigan USA Jaclyn Schulz.

Other teams were composedof mother/daughter, boyfriends, married couple, father/daughter, brothers, father/son, boyfriend/girlfriend.

Natalie and Nadiya Anderson teamed up for Survivor. One was kicked off the island first, the other was the ultimate winner. (credit: CBS)

Before the season began, Natalie described herself as crazy, strong and confident. She said her pet peeves were girls who cant do anything for themselves, lazy people and dumb people.

Natalie won five jury votes, Schulz got two and Payne got a single vote.

The newest Survivor winner told CBS2s Suzanne Marques that she really hadnt decided what she would do with her winnings just yet.

I think Im going to go out to dinner with my parents and say Mom and dad, dont worry. I got this. I can pay for a fancy dinner now,' Natalie quipped.

Nadyia has a nice chunk of change coming her way, too, Natalie said.

In the shows 30th installment, host/producer Jeff Probst revealed three tribes (blue collar, white collar and no collar) would compete against one another in Nicaragua. Survivor: Worlds Apart begins in February. Probst told Entertainment Weekly the show hasnt aired or been edited yet and its already one my favorites.

For more about Survivor, click here.

Source: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/12/17/twin-killing-natalie-wins-season-finale-of-survivor/

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