Day 15 - State of Portugal Address

[Jeff Probst]

In Stranded, the rules clearly state that any player is not allowed to reveal their identity to any other player of the game.

Returning players, while they may discuss previous relationships as it pertains to Stranded, are not allowed to discuss other series outside of Stranded.

On Day 12, Katie received her first formal warning for discussing a game outside of Stranded with her friend who also received the same warning.

Today, in a conversation at 9:25pm on Day 15 (Thursday, July 10th) the following transpired:

Shut up bitch. That shit ain't gonna rub on me.

Who I am is not important. Just know that I know who you are and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

So you know my reputation, eh?

Reputation schmeputation. Reputations don't mean shit to me. Obviously I'm not going to say too much but yeah, clearly you've got a reputation but I'm not even referring to that. Just know that if you manage to once, just once, keep a lid on it this time, we can work together this time during the merge and not spend the next couple of weeks bitching about how shitty players are marching to a win. ;)

Wait a second? No fucking way!

Like I said. Shut your gobhole.

Ok

And people are surprised cause in every single ORG I go out early 99.9% of the time

We treat the integrity of this game with the utmost importance. As such this is Katie's second formal warning.

This means that we will take 24 hours to review the impact this rule break has had on the game and at the end of 24 hours we will decide whether Katie will be removed from the game permanently.

In the meantime, she will be exiled from Private Messaging until further notice.

[Rachel]

Just so we're clear we're allowed to talk about ID related bullshit in our confessionals correct?

[Rachel]

Oh shit I thought that this topic and the one in my confessional we're totally different one

Sorry Brenda

[Brenda Lowe]

Alol, GJ Rachel. But yes, talk all the ID stuff you want in the privacy of your confessional

[Jeff Probst]

As you all know we take this very seriously.

We have used our 24 hours to cool down and assess the situation as unbiasedly as possible.

Given the ambiguous nature of the discussion, it made it difficult for us to come to an agreement, but after many discussions we finally have.

Basically it boiled down to the following points:

A. She had already been warned on TWO prior occasions. Once in a formal warning, and on another occasion in a private conversation with Brenda in her confessionals. This meant she absolutely was aware of the rules and knew that she would be breaking them by revealing this to Caryn. Further evidence of this can be seen in their conversation where she attempted to hide this fact by asking Caryn to keep quiet about it.

B. We don't want this to become the defining moment of an otherwise well played and hard fought season. By allowing Katie to play further, it would mean that players who did not break the rules could potentially be voted out before her. Furthermore, any success Katie may have had in this season would forever be tainted.

C. We have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to revealing your identity. It has become more and more apparent that her identity has become known, and as such results in an unfair advantage.

D. There should be no unfair advantage given to any player due to their previous relationships with other players in the game (outside of the boundaries of partners/friends). There are 9 other new players who entered this game unable to form alliances with the veterans based on their knowledge of them outside of the game. This has the potential to give her a leg up in the competition that is just not fair to the rest of you.

E. The longer Katie remains in the game, the bigger a target it paints on Caryn who had no part in the unsolicited rule break. That's simply unfair.


We have carefully gone over all the pros and cons of this situation. I'm simply listing the reasons fully and frankly so that everyone can see all of the time and thought that went into this decision. We have even asked multiple unbiased parties who have no involvement in this season on their opinions and the choice seems to be clear.

We simply cannot allow Katie to remain in the game because of her flagrant disregard of the rules and the potential damage (intentional or not) it may do to an otherwise amazing season with players who are playing by the rules.


So it is with regret that I can now announce that Katie is being ejected from the game. She will not become apart of our jury and is now officially removed.



I thank you all for your patience and continued dedication to the season, I look forward to seeing how this all plays out in a fair and competitive manner.

To leave you on a positive note headed into our long weekend: Congratulations, everyone remaining in the game has now made the jury.

I will see you all this Sunday at 8c/9e for our first Merged Tribal Council where someone will become the first member of the jury. That is the only event scheduled for Sunday.

Good night and play fair!

-Probst.

[Sophie P Clarke]

This is a terrible situation and it's awful that someone had to leave this way.

On a complete separate note though, congratulations to you all on making it to the jury stage of the game!

[Caryn]

Thanks Jeff for clearing my name. I am INNOCENT, pls don't harm me.

And just out of curiosity, was the merge boot not going to make the Jury anyway?

[Brenda Lowe]

Ooh ooh, I got this.