‘Survivor’ Releases Rare Statement Asking Viewers to Embrace Kindness

Although CBS would not comment on why it was necessary to issue a statement, it may have been triggered, in part, by the online backlash against Maria Gonzalez, who ended up voting for Kenzie Petty instead of her close ally Charlie Davis. Petty continued to win Survivor 46.

“I was really shocked,” Davis told EW. “I mean, I said it, I think, at the after-show. I haven’t watched the entire after-show yet, and I think they showed very little of it on the show, but it was very gripping. One of the very last things she said to me before she was rejected was, “Get to the final three.” You have my vote. So I don’t know what more I can do. I almost feel like it’s like an experience of perfect control. Obviously I have to perform at the Tribal Finals, that’s always up to me. But as far as thinking I had someone’s vote, yes, I definitely thought I had Maria’s vote 1,000%.

Even Petty was surprised that Gonzalez voted for her. “I literally said, ‘There’s no way I’m going to have Maria, so it’s over,'” she told EW. “I was like, maybe I’ll have seven, but I can’t have Maria. When I realized she voted for me, I was very shocked, but I really worked hard to connect with everyone as strongly as possible, especially after the merge. I’m just a people person and I wanted to build bridges with everyone. So I spent a lot of time getting to know Maria. Obviously not as much as Charlie, but in the end, you never know what people will vote for or what resonates with them. So I think my strategy was just to be authentically myself and hope that reflected in the jury.

A source close to Survivor said it wasn’t just Gonzalez who sparked such anger (like this thread on Reddit under the heading “I’m surprised at the amount of hatred towards Maria.”). Apparently, there were “hostile” messages towards several players and certain elements of the game.