Luke Jones and Laura Bileskalne are breaking their silence after being fired from Below Deck Down Under.
Laura took to Instagram on Tuesday, August 8, to address her unwelcome advances toward Adam Kodra, writing, “My sincere apologies to Adam, I did not realize I made him feel uncomfortable and no one should be put in that position.”
She also issued an apology to costar Margot Sisson for questioning her incident with Luke. “And to Margot to not been [sic] able to empathize. I was 29 when the show was filmed, 30 was my life-changer. I am 31 now and I am watching it as all of you, an entertainment show,” Laura added.
Luke, for his part, “liked” Laura’s social media statement. He seemingly referred to the controversy in a vague caption of his own, writing via Instagram on Sunday, August 6, “It doesn’t Matter what they think about you because you don’t Care. Everything we Hear is an Opinion, Not a Fact. Everything we see is a Perspective. Not the Truth. Take Ownership and move forward.”
During back-to-back episodes on Monday, August 7, Luke came under fire after he climbed into Margot’s bed naked when the power went out on the boat. Producers stepped in after Luke tried to make a move on Margot, which left him visibly upset. He was sent to a hotel by Captain Jason before getting fired the next morning.
“We had an incident last night and I want to stress that this is a place where we respect each other. Our cabin is our safety zone. That door is our boundary,” Jason told the crew. “That door is not to be opened unless it is consensual. To walk into someone else’s room without consent [while] indecent is my limit.”
Laura found herself in hot water as well when she defended Luke, which prompted costar Aesha Scott to tell Jason about Laura’s lack of boundaries with Adam. The captain confirmed with Adam that Laura made him feel uncomfortable, leading her to be fired as well.
“Adam feels uncomfortable with some moments out [with you] and he’s tried to say no. You have not listened to him and his boundaries to be set,” Jason told Laura. “After my multiple speeches with the crew about boundaries and respect, did you not go to Margot and say, ‘Poor Luke. I wish he had come in and seen me?’ You’ve disrespected exactly what I actually set out to do.”
He concluded: “I am trying to move forward as a team. I’m trying to get that behind us and you have brought it straight back up. I am going to terminate your employment today. I can’t go on with you as part of the team in the environment I am trying to set.”
Since the episodes aired, Aesha and Jason have received an outpouring of support on social media for how they handled the incident. Aesha further addressed the situation after previously discussing her own history with sexual assault.
“I wanted to take the opportunity to remind everyone of the main message that was shown on the episode, which is that women — and actually everyone — have the right to go out and have fun and feel safe and that is just the f—king end of it,” Aesha, who mentioned her past abuse during season 4 of Below Deck Med, said via Instagram on Tuesday. “There’s no questions or ifs or buts, that is the end of it. So please keep an eye on your friends and each other.”
Below Deck Down Under airs back-to-back episodes on Bravo Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
