Survivor': Man Who Outted Transgender Fellow Contestant Fired from His Job
© Provided by TheWrap Jeff Varner SurvivorJeff Varner, the openly gay "Survivor: Game Changers" who outted a fellow contestant as transgender, reportedly lost his job with a Greensboro, North Carolina real estate agency.
According to the Greensboro News & Record, Varner was fired Thursday from Allen Tate Realtors saying that he was told by his employer that he was "in the middle of a news story that we don't want anything to do with." Allen Tate Realtors didn't immediately respond to TheWrap's request for comment.
Varner joined the agency in their Greensboro-N.Elm area only last month.
The ruckus began on April 12, when Varner told the rest of the "Survivor" tribe that "there was deception here," before turning to fellow contestant Zeke Smith and asking, "Why haven't you told anyone here that you're transgender?"
Smith remained silent, while Varner tried to save face by arguing $1 million was at stake. "I'm gonna beat myself up over this," he added, before sitting for the rest of the Council with his head between his hands.
Smith hadn't planned to come out on the show, as he "didn't want to be the 'first transgender 'Survivor' contestant," he told the new issue of People magazine. "I'm not ashamed of being trans, but I didn't want that to be my story... I just wanted to go out on an adventure and play a great game. I just wanted to be known for my game."
Varner, who took a beating on social media, issued an apology after the episode aired, writing in part, "Outing someone is assault," he wrote. "It robs a strong, courageous person of their power and protection and opens them up to discrimination and danger. It can leave scars that haunt for a lifetime."
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