Hannah Ferrier from Below Deck Mediterranean has said that “there’s nothing that can be done” about sexual assault on privately owned superyachts – something she’s sadly experienced first-hand.
Below Deck has recently taken the world by storm. The popular reality show that revolves around the lives of superyacht crew members during charter season has even spawned multiple spinoffs including Below Deck Down Under and Below Deck Mediterranean.
However, there’s a dark side to superyachting, as recently revealed by Hannah Ferrier, – the Chief Stewardess from Below Deck Mediterranean – that Below Deck rarely explores. During an appearance on The Will & Woody Show, Hannah was first asked about what a yacht like the one David Beckham was recently spotted on would offer.
To which Hannah responded, “On a yacht like that you would have, just basically, anything you wanted, whenever you wanted.” This led co-host Will McMahon to question whether this included sex and whether wealthy superyacht owners and guests feel entitled to sex from staff members. And Hannah didn’t hold back with her reply.
“Oh definitely! There’s lots of talk in our industry about that sort of stuff because, you know, I think when people get that rich… Like, I’ve been propositioned a lot. But at the end of the day, I’m there just doing a job. I’m not there for that.”
Hannah Ferrier
Hannah then went on to say that on chartered yachts, sexual harrassment and sexual assault are not tolerated. But on private yachts, the behaviour is harder to stamp out.
“The crazy thing is if it’s a chartered yacht, like you see on Below Deck, then obviously the guest gets spoken to and reprimanded. Whereas if it’s a privately owned yacht because it works under international waters, it’s basically, you can go to the Captain, and it’s basically like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry that happened to you but, like, there’s the gangway. See you later.’ And there’s nothing that can be done about it.”
Hannah Ferrier
Hannah went on to say that she had experienced this kind of encounter first-hand but was luckily saved by a “working girl” (sex worker) who was hired to be and work aboard the superyacht.
“I had a very bad situation where I was physically assaulted on a boat and I left… When it’s privately owned, it’s either, like, you put up with it or you leave. And the crazy thing, it was actually one of the working girls that kind of saved me in the situation I was in. She kind of came down the stairs and saw what was happening and got him, like, off me.”
Hannah Ferrier
Hannah even suggested that it’s not just because the incident occurred in international waters that the man who assaulted her wasn’t ever reprimanded. The Below Deck star implied that because of his immense wealth (she confirmed that he was “definitely” worth billions of dollars) and power, he was untouchable.
“Um, you wouldn’t call the police on this guy…”
Hannah Ferrier
Of course, most of us mere mortals who dream of owning a superyacht wouldn’t dare to behave in such a disgusting manner. It’s true what they say; money is wasted on the rich.
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