Michael Rapaport’s shot at Colton Underwood throughout “The Traitors” roundtable didn’t simply land flawed, nevertheless it detonated all the vote. Throughout Thursday’s episode, Rapaport went after the previous “Bachelor” lead whereas arguing that Underwood must be suspected as a Traitor, dragging Underwood’s real-life historical past into the sport in a means that instantly shifted the room. Rapaport claimed Underwood, who got here out as homosexual in April 2021, had an edge at deception as a result of “no one on this room can be higher at holding a secret than you.” Colton Underwood didn’t let it slide.

“There it’s. You assume it was enjoyable for 29 years of my life?” he snapped again, as Rapaport shortly tried to backpedal, insisting his remark had “nothing to do with it.” However Rapaport doubled down on his suspicion, including, “I believe you got here into this recreation loving the concept of being a Traitor.”

If Rapaport thought he was making a strategic level, the group clearly didn’t obtain it that means. Whereas there had been chatter about voting Underwood out, Rapaport’s comment flipped the momentum, and immediately, his identify was the one getting written down.

Olympic determine skater Johnny Weir, who’s overtly homosexual, referred to as out the implication head-on, “You’ll be able to’t blame somebody for being pressured right into a closet for almost all of their lives,” Weir mentioned. “That’s what we took it as.” Candiace Dillard Bassett additionally jumped in and requested Rapaport to “make clear” what he meant if he wasn’t making an attempt to mock Underwood’s expertise.

Rapaport, nonetheless, leaned into his argument as a substitute of strolling it again, claiming, “His conduct is of a Traitor. His conduct is secretive. It’s conniving, it’s chirping, it’s commiserating. It’s cowardly.” And when the group pushed again, telling him he was “flawed” no matter his intentions, Rapaport fired off one other harsh jab, “Take it nonetheless you need. It is a Traitor. You’re a Traitor, a commiserating and colluding Traitor.”

By the point the votes had been tallied, Rapaport had sealed his personal destiny. He obtained probably the most votes and was banished, and it wasn’t refined why. Despite the fact that the sport is constructed round Faithfuls detecting Traitors, a number of gamers made it clear their votes mirrored how Rapaport dealt with the second.

Even “Survivor” alum Natalie Anderson, who had been pleasant with Rapaport within the recreation, mentioned his “holding a secret” assertion was sufficient to vary her vote. “For me, there are some issues that it doesn’t even matter. … Immediately, the way in which you spoke to Colton, for me, it’s sufficient to jot down your identify,” she mentioned.

After his banishment, Rapaport tried to make clear the intent behind his remark, saying, “I meant what I meant throughout the context of the sport. It had nothing to do along with his sexuality. I actually sincerely apologize if I offended Colton or anyone in the home. That completely wasn’t the intention.”

He later doubled down on that clarification in an announcement to TMZ on Friday, saying, “I did communicate to [Underwood] proper after filming. We had a terrific man-to-man dialog, and all the things was very cool and respectful. I like him and need him and his household the very best.”

On-line, viewers lit up Rapaport for the change and for his general power on the roundtable, with reactions pouring in on X.

One particular person wrote, “Why are you at all times yelling?” Others had been far much less forgiving, with feedback together with: “You’re a f-cking piece of sh-t,” and “You f-cking homophobic a-shole”

Not everybody noticed it the identical means, although. One viewer defended Rapaport’s level as purely gameplay, writing, “I believe Rapaport’s a dope, and even I knew what he meant. It wasn’t about closets, it was concerning the recreation. Cease attempting to find sufferer factors in different folks’s phrases.”