‘The Traitors’ Most Controversial Player Is Stirring Up Online Conversation
The Traitors fans have been loathing one particular player this week. A lot of reality TV die-hards have been introduced to Michael Rapaport this season. Sports fans and other social media users are commiserating with The Traitors fans as they navigated his turbulent tenure on the show.
Rapaport has done nothing but make enemies since the moment he was introduced to the game. On social media platforms, it’s been even more of a mine field. The commentator has become an unwelcome presence in The Traitors fandom. But, social media conversation has consistently swirled around him this whole time.
Rapaport’s big moment this week is him butting heads with Colton Underwood. The mercurial star alleged that his fellow player was “a good liar” because he hid being gay all this time. Where to begin? Episode 5 saw Underwood draw the ire of Rapaport because of a confrontation during the roundtable. It seems like the Internet’s least-favorite Faithful knew the knives were going to be out and was determined to go down swinging.
He cried in Underwood’s direction, “Nobody in this room would be better at holding a secret than you.” Savvy reality TV fans will remember the Bachelor and Bachelorette star being effectively blackmailed about dating women and men back in 2021. Underwood came out as gay because someone threatened to release a compromising photo of him. The veteran reality show star asked, “You think it was fun for 29 years of my life?” Even by the standards of this dramatic show, a lot of folks felt like this was beyond the pale.
Michael Rapaport voted off of The Traitors
Johnny Weir basically spoke for everyone when he said, “You can’t blame somebody being forced into a closet for the majority of their life.” Other cast mates called it despicable in their own way. Natalie Anderson said, “Today the way you spoke to Colton, for me, it’s enough to write your name down. So I think we should just get together and vote him out of here.”
And so, by a vote of 11-5, they did just that. Rapaport was left to explain himself and came up grasping at straws. It’s at least moderately humorous that a section of social media is celebrating the elimination because his presence was so jarring for most of the season.
“It sucks, but I felt backed into a corner and I tried to fight my way out of it,” he explained. “Maybe I fought too hard. I meant what I meant within the context of the game. It had nothing to do with his sexuality. I really, seriously apologize if I offended Colton or anybody in the house. That absolutely wasn’t my intention. I’m a fan of the game. I played hard. And I played a good game, except when it went a little too far, which sucks.”
Who is Michael Rapaport?
Fans at home might know Michael Rapaport as an actor, comedian, or podcast host. He had roles in Deep Blue Sea, The War at Home, Boston Public and more over the years. He also has a lot of controversies surrounding him that had fans mad he was included in the show at all.
This decade has seen Rapaport pivot to more conservative commentary, which has also drawn the ire of social media because of his penchant to step on rakes unprompted. So Rapaport being kicked off the show while being a Faithful and the entire cast not caring that they banished a Faithful? That was kind of great to watch.
(featured image: Peacock)
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
