A controversy involving Survivor alumni Richard Hatch and Sue Hawk kept Hatch out of season 40’s Winners at War. But Richard has remained defiant and points the finger at CBS.
In the controversy, Sue Hawk accused her co-star of rubbing his bare genitals on her during a challenge, which caused her to quit the game. Even though Richard attempted to clear his name several times over the past 16 years, he recently released a YouTube video detailing the entire situation and why CBS is actually at fault.
Richard Hatch accused of sexually harassing Sue Hawk on ‘Survivor: All-Stars’
After winning Survivor: Borneo, Richard Hatch returned seven seasons later for a short stint on All-Stars. He competed fully naked in every Immunity Challenge to gain an advantage over the other contestants and accidentally bumped into competitor Sue Hawk during the challenge.
Richard’s tribe lost, and his tribemates voted the former winner off the island that night for separate reasons. However, Sue felt sexually violated by Richard, which caused her to become emotionally distraught, and she quit the game the following day, even though her Borneo co-star already left.
After the season aired, Richard tried to clear his name several times and insisted he never assaulted his co-star. Sue stated she considered filing a lawsuit against CBS but decided not to pursue legal action because the network helped her “deal with the situation.”
Richard Hatch claims CBS is responsible for the situation with Sue Hawk
The Borneo winner places the majority of the responsibility on CBS because the network shows the viewers “the edited perspective” they want everyone to see.
He also called out publicist Chris Ender and referred to him as the “head of media manipulators” at CBS who “spins media” to cause Survivor fans to “think positively” about the network and the producers.
Richard also accused CBS of doing the same thing to Dan Spilo in Survivor: Island of the Idols. Host and executive producer Jeff Probst publicly said he did not invite Richard back for Winners at War as it “did not seem appropriate” due to the Borneo winner’s past and the recent controversy surrounding Dan.
In his YouTube video, Richard claims the producers are using him as a “scapegoat” because they have invited him back for Heroes vs. Villains and Redemption Island.
He also called out Jeff Probst for “lying” and “trying to dupe” the viewers because the host has done interviews where he thanked Richard for helping the show become a massive success.
Because CBS invited Sue to return after knowing she, according to Richard, wasn’t stable and then edited the footage to look a certain way to viewers, the former winner believes the network is at fault.
Richard Hatch claims Sue Hawk was emotionally unstable
On his YouTube channel, Richard explained he made an alliance with Sue on Borneo before the game began even though he believed she was “unstable” then.
He also noted that her bitter speech at the Final Tribal Council was “reflective of her emotional instability,” and CBS knew that but invited her back for All-Stars anyway.
Richard claims that between Borneo and All-Stars, Sue expressed her anger for not winning and that she wanted to “extort CBS.” The former winner also detailed the infamous challenge, explaining, “literally out of the blue, she turned around rather than completing the challenge and headed back towards me.”
He repeated several times that he never touched her, with any part of his body, but insisted Sue “violated his space” and grabbed his waist.
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