<\/p>\n
Colton Underwood is speaking out after his exchange with actor Michael Rapaport on the latest of \u201cTraitors.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fifth episode of this season was released on Thursday on Paramount. Underwood, who came out as gay years ago, is also on the show, and Rapaport is drawing heat for comments he made toward him. <\/p>\n
\u201cTraitors\u201d is a game of deception, and Underwood accused Rapaport of being a traitor. The actor responded, \u201cNobody in this room would be better at holding a secret than you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere it is,\u201d Underwood replied. \u201cYou think it was fun for 29 years of my life?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh no, no, no, no, no \u2014 that has nothing to do with it,\u201d Rapaport replied. \u201cI think you came into this game loving the idea of being a traitor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Underwood opened up about the incident <\/b>in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe coming-out process takes a long time, and I\u2019m still very much in my coming-out process, so there\u2019s always little things here and there that sort of re-trigger old emotions. I\u2019m still working on how to process it, and I think you definitely see that come up and hit me.\u201d<\/p>\n The outlet asked Underwood if he believed Rapaport was really taking a swipe at his sexuality with the comment.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the short time that I got to know Michael, he was self-aware enough,\u201d Underwood said. \u201cHe\u2019s a fast talker, he\u2019s a slick talker, and he said it in one of his interviews, his mouth gets him in trouble. I grew up around those types of people. It\u2019s very much like a locker-room-style environment, and I think phrases and little digs and things toward the gay community get thrown out a lot in those type of environments. I\u2019m at a point in my life where I\u2019m definitely not sitting in that emotion. I don\u2019t feel like a victim at all. I know he\u2019s probably watching it back just with a little bit of regret on how he delivered it.<\/p>\n \u201cI could just tell you how I took it, and I did take it that it was not in a gaming way and it was more of a personal dig at my past and what I went through and how I handled myself,\u201d he added. \u201cI would be the first person to say I\u2019m definitely not perfect, and I definitely made a lot of mistakes. But at this point in my life, it was five or six years ago when I first started the coming-out process, and I\u2019m in just such a different phase of life with my family and professionally. A lot of therapy. The harder part is just putting myself back into the headspace of where I was at during my lowest.\u201d<\/p>\n Underwood did say that Rapaport apologized and told him he \u201cdidn\u2019t mean it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not holding a grudge against him, but I do think it\u2019s important for me in my life at this point to start standing up for myself,\u201d he said. \u201cI can only be a punching bag for so long. Even today, seeing some people\u2019s (and) fans of the show\u2019s comments towards me, I can only sit quiet for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n The Independent reported that other competitors on the show immediately took up for Underwood after Rapaport\u2019s comment.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t blame somebody being forced into a closet for the majority of their life,\u201d figure skater Johnny Weir, who is competing on the show, said. <\/p>\n Rapaport claimed that his comment had nothing to do with Underwood being in the closet at one point in his life. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not talking about closets!\u201d Rapaport yelled at Weir. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what I took it as, or we took it as, anyway,\u201d Weir responded.<\/p>\n \u201cHis behavior is of a traitor,\u201d Rapaport said pointing at Underwood. \u201cHis behavior is secretive. It\u2019s conniving. It\u2019s chirping. It\u2019s commiserating. It\u2019s cowardly.\u201d<\/p>\n Two other competitors, Yam Yam Arocho and Maura Higgins, agreed that the comment was a \u201cvery low blow.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it was,\u201d Rapaport replied. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t intended to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Unfortunately for the actor, folks on social media were not buying it. <\/p>\n \u201cThis moment with Michael Rapaport on the newest Traitors episode is vile,\u201d Spencer Althouse wrote. \u201cLove that Rob Rausch immediately clocked him for the incorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTraitors used to be such a good fun show and leave it to Michael Rapaport to go on there and make it nasty,\u201d Sarah Alaina wrote on X. \u201cUgh.\u201d<\/p>\n There were others though who did believe that Rapaport was not trying to be homophobic with his comment. <\/p>\n Underwood, 33, and his husband, Jordan C. Brown, last made headlines back in 2024 when the welcomed a baby into the world. The couple first announced back in May of that year that they were expecting a child, and Underwood shared a photo of he and Brown posing with their new son. Underwood also shared a video <\/b><\/a>of him feeding his son and wrote, \u201cOur Sweet Bishop.\u201d<\/p>\n Underwood was an undrafted rookie free agent out of Illinois State in 2014. The 6-foot-3, 254-pound defensive end first signed with the Chargers that year and also spent time on the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad that season. He also spent time with the Raiders in 2015 and 2016.<\/p>\n Following his time in the NFL, Underwood appeared on \u201cThe Bachelorette\u201d for that show\u2019s 14th-season and then appeared on season 23 of \u201cThe Bachelor.\u201d<\/p>\n Underwood came out as gay in a \u2018Good Morning America\u201d interview with Robin Roberts back in 2021. He told \u201cVariety\u201d<\/b><\/a> that he never planned on telling the world he was gay, but did so because he was being \u201cblackmailed,\u201d by someone who claimed to have taken nude photos of him at a spa that was known for catering to gay clientele.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n