Photo: Euan Cherry/Peacock
Michael Rapaport seemed primed to bring chaos when he was cast on The Traitors, and by God, did he deliver. The controversial actor shouted down nearly every season-four contestant at the roundtable, accused anyone he didn’t like of being a Traitor, and monologued about loving the Housewives even as he voted Porsha Williams off the show. His misbehavior almost got him sent home early in the game, but he held strong for five episodes. After instigating a feud with Survivor winner Yam Yam Arocho over the claiming of a shield, most players seemed to agree that he wasn’t a Traitor, just a distracting Faithful. Then former Bachelor Colton Underwood tried to trick Rapaport into revealing himself as a Traitor by asking him what host Alan Cumming wears inside the turret, and Rapaport didn’t appreciate the joke.
The two squabbled over who controls the house and Tiffany’s elimination in the previous episode until the roundtable, where Rapaport crossed a line. “Nobody in this room would be better at holding a secret than you!” he shouted at Underwood, who was famously still in the closet when he appeared on The Bachelor. The other cast members immediately admonished Rapaport, who has a history of making racist and misogynstic comments, for saying something homophobic. Though Rapaport tried to say he didn’t intend it that way, his fate was sealed, with the players promptly voting him out of the castle. “It sucks that it happened. It’s not something that I wanted to bring to the environment of The Traitors,” Rapaport says now. “And I certainly didn’t want to besmudge him or bring any stress to his life or to his family.”
People go on The Traitors for all kinds of reasons: to win money, to increase their profile, to have fun. What was your goal?
I have never worked with an agenda in my entire career, for better or for worse. I’m not contrived. I’m not premeditated. I came in as a big fan of the show. I knew there was a prize to win, but I was like, I ain’t here for the money. I’m here for the honey. I was there to perform. I was there to put on a good show. I didn’t stick to my wife’s game plan, which was to shut the fuck up.
Before filming, we sat around for two days. Once we started, we were in the room with so many cameras, and the castle was quiet. My game plan went out the window. I was just like, Let’s go.
What did “let’s go” mean for you?
I’m an actor, so when I see the cameras, my natural instinct is, “Action.” I wasn’t coy. I wanted to make the best season of The Traitors yet.
You immediately had smoke on you for saying you thought that one gamer and one Housewife were probably Traitors.
I said three things that got smoke. One, they hunt Housewives, which is a fact. I also said they hunt gamers, which is historically correct. And then, I was the first one to say that Rob Love Island was sketchy and suspicious, and the reaction they showed in the episode was way less than the reaction it got in real life. Everybody came to his defense. What are you doing? Why would you say that? Oh, don’t you wish that you could just batch your eyes and get away with things? I said twice that Rob Love Island was a Traitor, and I was correct.
I’m probably the first person to say this and you can quote me: Next year and going forward, do not hunt Housewives, hunt hunks. Go hunk hunting. With the success of the great Dylan Efron and the success that Rob Love Island is having now, forget the Housewives. Hunk hunting 2027.
You were right about Rob being a Traitor, but nobody would listen to you because of how you speak. Do you wish you could have connected better with people and got them to listen to your points?
In terms of strategy? Yeah. I wish I could have connected those dots in a relatable way and not been so confrontational. I might come off as aggressive.
Were you ever attempting to put on the brakes?
The first night, when I wasn’t picked as a Traitor, I was forthcoming that I wasn’t a Traitor, which kind of seems like you’re making things up. Then I told the house that Housewives get hunted and the gamers thing. I wasn’t the only one saying that, but I was the only person saying it the way I said it.
In front of a whole group of people, too.
I was trying to do damage control. I did really well in that challenge, but on my last night, I made the mistake of letting my guard down. When Colton and Rob Love Island started talking to me in the kitchen, you could see it in my face. I saw the playback when he was like, “What does Alan wear when you’re in the turret?” I was so like, What are you talking to me for? I’ve already proved that I’m a Faithful. Then it escalated.
Why do you think you got into a personality clash with Yam Yam early on?
We misunderstood each other. We had our thing at the roundtable when I said, “If you’re a Traitor and you know it, clap your hands.” Then, in the kitchen, I said to him, “Yam Yam, listen. We got off on the wrong foot and I would like to figure out a way to get along.” And he said, “Let me think about it.” Then the next morning we got into it again, and on-camera in front of the majority of the house, I went over to Yam Yam and I said, “Yam Yam, I apologize for the way I’ve acted. Whatever I did, I’m sorry. I want to move forward and I want to work constructively for us and I want to turn the volume down for everybody else.” They cut that scene.
What did he say to that?
We hugged it out. I was very genuine and sincere in my apology, and he accepted it in a very genuine way. I complimented him on a beautiful outfit that he was wearing. I also complimented him on his chest hair, which was oiled up. He looked fantastic that day and we moved forward. It would’ve been fair to show that, because I don’t mind showing the bad stuff, but I think you’re doing a disservice to me, the villain. I wish that would’ve been in the show, to be totally honest with you.
Do you think people knew about your politics, and did that affect your run on the show?
A hundred percent, without a doubt.
Who were the people?
I don’t want to say because I don’t want to cause any more trouble or controversy. I don’t want to bring anybody else’s names into it. I don’t have any problems with anybody.
How did that knowledge of you play out?
It’s a feeling. The Housewives know that I am one of their biggest fans. The only one I hadn’t met before was the great Porsha Williams, but she’s heard me talk about her in fawning ways. They knew that I loved them, and I was very adamant about when I was sitting with all five of them.
You got accused of homophobia at the roundtable. What did you actually mean when you said Colton had been secretive?
The words secretive and dishonest and lying and hiding and fake and deceitful and fraud and betrayal get thrown around a lot in this show. I was amped up, and it was just a word that I used. It would’ve been toward anybody. Just like I said “conniving, commiserating, cowardly”; I was just riffing. I was pissed off. I felt frustrated that it was another night that I was going to have to defend myself. I was surprised they let me go as long as I went. I thought somebody would interrupt me, and no one did. When I said that and then he responded, I was like, “I didn’t say that.”
I apologized right there in the moment. The other cast members piling on made it build up. I did not intend to offend Colton. He was one of the people that I felt closest to in the house because we have things in common. We talked about football. I told him I was a fan of his on The Bachelor. I cheered for him when he jumped the fence. I was a fan of his documentary. I cried for him when he told his story to Diane Sawyer. We had personal conversations that were probably deeper than I had with anybody else in there. I regret that it happened.
When Eric said, “Even if you are a Faithful, you’re a distracting Faithful,” how did that hit you?
I didn’t agree with that. I thought I was a very, very, very good Faithful. I was trying hard. I was a great listener. We’re not curing a disease. We’re catching Traitors. It ain’t that serious. It wasn’t like I was running around the house screaming and yelling, bumping into people, running behind people going “Boo.” And Eric, God bless him, also said that he had great ears. I’m not besmudging him. But I didn’t agree with him that I was chaotic.
Have you always eaten like that?
The reason I did the two-handed cup drinking was because I only had one change from the wardrobe department, and during that breakfast, while we were talking, some water spilled on my wardrobe. So to prevent that, the next time I was drinking and talking and turning and all that stuff, I used two hands on the cup.
Is that also why you were shoveling the food in?
I will not defend myself about shoveling the food in my mouth. I am a shoveler. But I am not a shoveler in public. I was in that library shoveling that food into my mouth alone. People do odd things when they’re eating alone. I told the three cameramen who were in there, “I bet you when you went to film school to study cinematography, you never thought you’d be filming Michael Rapaport in a room stuffing his face for 25 minutes.” They bent over and laughed. When I’m in public, I wouldn’t say that I have the best etiquette, but I don’t shovel when I’m at the Four Seasons.