Below Deck Continued: The Emile Kotze Lawsuit
The Bravo Docket
Cesie and Angela
4.7 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 15 April 2026
⏱️ 65 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Legal team, we’re back with another Below Deck lawsuit. Emile Kotze, a deckhand from Below Deck Season 3, is suing production, claiming that production created a hostile work environment for the sake of TV ratings, including forcing him to engage sexually with another crew member as well as discrimination and deceptive editing. We dive into this lawsuit and share our thoughts on Emile’s claims…are they valid or is this going to be an uphill battle for him?
What’s on the Docket?
- What does Emile’s lawsuit against NBCUniversal actually claim, and why we think he used AI to write it
- What is included in the Below Deck background check and Emile’s answers to their questions
- Hidden cameras and how surveillance on reality TV has gone too far (we don’t need to see people in their underwear)
- Receipts, including emails between him and producers, that Emile provides as evidence
- Discussion about how much the Below Deck cast makes, and how Emile felt slighted by his pay compared to his U.S. counterparts
- “The Streisand Effect” and the potential holes in Emile’s claims
- The relationship Emile had with producers, showrunners, camera crew, and other castmates
- Where this case is at now and how reality TV production companies protect themselves from fault by the first amendment, release forms, and extensive contracts
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Transcript
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| 1:13.7 | After you purchase, they'll ask how you found them. Please show your support and let them know |
| 1:17.6 | the Bravo docket sent you. It's not that easy to figure out how to write something in file it |
| 1:23.2 | in federal court. It does look like he used some substantial amounts of AI. This was back in 2014, |
| 1:30.0 | but it's like, why would somebody need to tell you to appear on below deck if they've ever |
| 1:34.0 | made or appeared in a sexually explicit video, even if made in the privacy of their own home? |
| 1:38.3 | That seems really weird and invasive and unnecessary. |
| 1:50.2 | Yeah. weird and invasive and unnecessary. Welcome to the Bravo Docket. |
| 1:52.0 | We're your favorite reality TV drama meets the courtroom. |
| 1:55.7 | I'm Sessie. |
| 1:56.7 | And I'm Angela and we're two attorneys with a passion for pop culture here to dive into the juiciest |
... |
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