'Survivor' contestant speaks out after getting fired from job for outing Zeke Smith
After being fired after his controversial statement revealing his fellow castaway Zeke Smith is a transgender, Jeff Varner now talked about losing his job.
"As I'm spending hours doing press [on Thursday], I discover I can't access my email. Then the MLS association emails to say, 'You've been terminated,'" the 51-year-old told Entertainment Weekly. To recall, the emotional tribal council on the recent episode of "Survivor Game Changers" caused him to lose his job as an agent at Allen Tate Real Estate Company in North Carolina.
He even described his being fired as "an ugly, knee-jerk reaction" from the company. He just found out that his real estate license has been deactivated, thus his clients were all left uninformed. "It took hours after my press junket to get anyone with the company on the phone to tell me personally and even longer to calm my clients," he added.
Varner also narrated that his ex-boss told him that he was involved in a news story that they didn't want to be engaged to. Unfortunately, they didn't even listen to him and let him explain his side. Hence, he is now trying his best to move on and find a much better job and a company that will support him.
On the other hand, Allen Tate's president and CEO Pat Riley released their statement about Varner's dismissal to ABC News. He defended their company's core values, composed of "honesty, integrity, and respect," lack from Varner, so they have to let him go.
He also revealed that he just has been working with them 17 days earlier before the news story emerged. Riley also cleared that before the airing of the show's controversial episode, their management was fully aware of his actions on that certain part. He then described that they came with that decision with careful consideration that involves their clients, employees, and other agents.
