'Survivor's' Sabiyah Broderick Defended Emily Flippen After Racial Accusations

Summary

• Fans often debate Survivor rankings and best players, but some got it wrong about player pay and racism accusations.
• Sabiyah defended Emily against racism claims, revealing insights on gameplay and dynamics on Survivor 45.
• Despite early backlash, Emily became popular and may return, showing how fans' opinions can evolve.

Since Survivor has an extremely loyal fan following, there are a lot of lively debates among fans. For example, fans like to discuss how each season ranks, which seasons new fans should watch first, and who the best players are.

However, there are some things that many fans get wrong about the show, including how much the players get paid. On top of that, Survivor's Sabiyah Broderick told fans who accused Emily Flippen of racism that they were completely wrong.

Sabiyah Broderick Was Disappointed In Survivor Fans Who Accused Emily Flippen Of Racism

When Survivor 45's premiere aired, Emily Flippen quickly became the player that many fans didn't like. There were several reasons why most Survivor fans took an immediate dislike to Emily during the premiere episode.

The main reason for that is the fact that Emily came across as an extremely harsh person who seemed annoying to many fans. On top of that, the fact that Emily's tribemates didn't hide that they didn't like the way Emily was behaving certainly affected many viewers.

Finally, there was a group of Survivor fans who felt that Emily actually was a bad person because they accused her of being racist. In response to that conjecture, Emily's tribemate, Sabiyah Broderick defended her and called out the people who made that accusation.

After Sabiyah was voted out, she did the round of exit interviews that most Survivor players go through after their eliminations. Since Sabiyah was a fascinating player who seemed to really have the potential to win Survivor 45, many of her interviews were fascinating.

How successful were Sabiyah Broderick and Emily Flippen during Survivor 45?

A perfect example of that is the fact that Sabiyah's October 2023 interview for Variety was extremely revealing. During that conversation, Sabiyah called out the Survivor fans who accused Emily of racism.

"Emily is not racist, not prejudiced. I’m kind of disappointed in that conversation being, like, the forefront of her character, based off of her social gameplay radar being so good."

The reason why Emily was accused of racism is the fact that she called out three black players, Sabiyah, Kaleb Gebrewold, and Bruce Perreault. However, Sabiyah pointed out that nobody would have cared if Emily targeted three white players.

“If me and Kaleb are white and we have the same get on or if Bruce is white, is it even a conversation?"

During the same interview, Sabiyah stated that she believed that Emily's remarks during the first episode were accurate. For example, Sabiyah agreed she had a tight bond with Kaleb that Emily was right to be worried about.

"Me and Kaleb did click heavy. We’re both Virgos, we have similar backgrounds having immigrant parents and coming from athletic backgrounds. We both adore basketball. So we were cutting up at camp. So her being threatened by that — she was right. So I don’t feel like it’s fair, just because we’re Black and she’s white to assume that she’s coming for us because of that dynamic, when it’s so small compared to everything that was going on out there.”

Sabiyah also explained to Variety that she thought Emily was right about Bruce being a threat going into the season. To make that argument, Sabiyah pointed out that since Bruce briefly played in the previous season, he had advantages over the other Survivor 45 players.

"Bruce was trying to downplay his threat ability. He only made it to Day 1, but that’s more than all of us. That’s true. The mindset — having to go through the pregame, having to go through casting, he’d already done it.”

Throughout Survivor history, there have been several duos who ran the game, made it to the end, and one of them won the season. As a result, it makes perfect sense that when two players with charisma and physical skills team up, other players want to get them out.

Who are the 10 best Survivor duos ever, according to Inside Survivor?

Sabiyah finished her remarks by pointing out that Emily was being smart, not racist.

"I feel like she would have came for us just the same like, ‘They’re so close, they’re such a big threat and they’re carrying the challenges. We’ve got to get them out while we have the numbers.’ That’s not racism. That’s just smart.”

Some Survivor Fans Were Outraged That People Labeled Emily Flippen Racist Online

Even though there were a lot of Survivor fans who accused Emily Flippen of being racist, that certainly wasn't a consensus. In fact, some Survivor fans were angry with the people who were harshly judging Emily based on very little evidence.

As Survivor 45 progressed, a fan on the r/survivor subreddit posted about how many fans grew to love Emily over time. That post's second most-upvoted response was from a fan who was outraged by the people who accused Emily of racism.

"I still cant get over the fact there were people posting online with their whole chests out about how Emily was clearly subconsciously racist after one episode. The audacity to call someone that. I hope those posters reflect on their rush to judgement."

Another one of the Survivor fans who responded in that Reddit thread completely agreed that it was outrageous that Emily was labeled a racist.

"The people strongly claiming Emily was implicitly racist after the first episode should honestly be shamed, it was so extreme of a reaction and not appropriate (or true) at all."

Despite the accusations that she faced early on, Emily became one of Survivor 45's most popular players. In fact, she became so popular that it seems like a no-brainer that Emily will eventually play again.