Survivor's inappropriate touching controversy showed that Jeff Probst cares more about the story than about contestants

Vulture

"The way Probst has repeatedly framed what happened this season illustrates his priority: story first, with real people whose real lives are affected as stand-ins for big themes," says Andy Dehnart. "After Kellee (Kim) first spoke out in November, he described the season so far as 'one of Survivor’s most compelling and socially relevant seasons of all time. ..Tonight, the entire two hours centered around the seismic shift that is taking place in our culture regarding how men and women relate to and respect each other. This is not unique to Survivor. Survivor is a microcosm for our real world. Situations just like this one are playing out in offices and bars and colleges across the country and the world.' Let’s hope that in offices and bars and colleges, people in authority would respond to clear, filmed evidence of unwanted touching immediately and unequivocally. If Probst really wants his show to be 'relevant,' and for his storytelling to affect change, he could start by taking responsibility for its own complicity in what happened to his cast and crew. Dan (Spilo) was responsible for the unwanted touching, but by failing to act, Jeff Probst and Survivor wrote this story."

ALSO:

• Survivor: David vs. Goliath finalist Angelina Cardona Keeley calls producers "irresponsible" for their handling of Dan Spilo: "Keeping Spilo in play after multiple instances of harassment was irresponsible; damaging to both his fellow contestants’ well-being and the integrity of the game as a whole," she writes in a Time magazine essay. "The pattern of inappropriate behavior justified his removal much earlier than the point at which production did step in. Whatever messaging production provided the cast during filming — as well as the warning given to Spilo specifically — was either not clear enough, or was otherwise ignored; ambiguities surrounding this response to Spilo’s behavior and eventual ejection have played out on TV in a manner likewise lacking in the transparency required from a network arguing it did its best."
• Dan Spilo says he's not allowed to comment when approached by a member of the paparazzi