Below Deck: Fans Fume At Rayna After Making 'embarrassing' Race ...

A dramatic look at Below Deck season 9 preview

Below Deck is known for its dramatic scenes of everything from arguments to partying, however, the finale took a turn not even fans saw coming. After tensions rose between Rayna and Chief Stew Heather Chase, viewers were left fuming to see Wes get caught in the middle.

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For the majority of season nine, tensions have been bubbling between Chief Stew Heather Chase and Deckhand Rayna Lindsey after Heather said the N-word in episode eight.

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However, it wasn't until the finale that the two finally discussed and addressed the damage behind the word.

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A visibly hurt Rayna told Heather she wouldn't be able to forgive her as she could never bring herself to be friends with a white person who uses the racial slur.

However, things began to heat up as a confused Heather was under the impression she was forgiven, then when Wes tried to calm things down, his blackness was questioned.

During the fateful evening, the crew had gone out for dinner and drinks when Heather shouted the slur while rapping twice in front of Rayna.

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Below Deck: Fans were fuming at Rayna after she snapped at Wes (Image: Bravo)

Below Deck: Rayna Lindsey came under fire from viewers for denouncing Wes' blackness (Image: Bravo)

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Although she initially denied saying it, Heather later apologised to Rayna after she was called out and Rayna responded: "That's ok, I still love you, I'm telling you, just be careful."

After the controversial episode aired, Chief Stew went on to release a statement on Instagram where she apologised for using the slur and vowed: "To do better in the future."

In the finale, after Rayna brought it up, Heather fell to her knees, begged for forgiveness and hoped she felt her apology was sincere.

Sadly, when Wes tried to ease things between the two, Rayna snapped at him and claimed Wes, who is mixed race, wasn't black enough to understand her hurt.

Below Deck: Rayna called out Heather for saying a racial slur (Image: Bravo)

Below Deck: Wes was caught in the cross fries after he tried to calm things down (Image: Bravo )

Viewers were taken aback by her statement, and they were angry at the way Rayna snapped at Wes and took to Twitter.

Blk_grl_magic wrote: "Rayna was wrong - what she did to Wes. Black people don't get to tell other Black people, especially biracial ones, if they are Black are not."

Lilmssunshine76 added: "#BelowDeck 20 more minutes of Rayna and hopefully, she follows Lexi into the never to be seen again cast members."

Babygotbravo tweeted: "Woah. Rayna. This is embarrassing behaviour. Yes, Heather was an idiot saying the word in a rap song. But the only one who has continually attacked people for the colour of their skin is Rayna."

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Princess0937 agreed: "Ok, not cool how Rayna talked to Wes in this situation. You shouldn't question another black person blackness cause they don't have the same reaction or way to deal with issue as you."

Dramabananna claimed: "Of course, Rayna doesn't want to sit down with Eddie and Heather and address once again the issue. It would ruin her storyline."

Wes was hurt by Rayna's statement and brought it up to her the next day, however, she stood by her claims because of his background.

The deckhand stated he wouldn't understand her angst because Wes was from the Islands and therefore couldn't relate to the issues she faces in the United States.

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Although Wes shared he studied in America and spent a significant amount of time there, Rayna still brushed him off in a dismissive manner.

When the initial comments were made by Heather, Captain Lee Rosback was unavailable to comment as he was under anaesthesia for spinal surgery.

However, when the episode aired, he took to his blog to release a statement, which read: "Heather, your apology to Rayna seemed sincere, you learned the hard way words like those have no place on a yacht, or anywhere else for that matter, I hope you take the opportunity to do better in the future."

"Rayna, you were rightfully offended, I don't condone that term in any situation, and no one should ever feel discriminated against where they work, but you seemed to accept Heather's apology to her face, then spoke to other people about it behind her back.

"I wish the situation had been brought to my attention sooner, where it would've been dealt with head on," he concluded.

Below Deck season nine reunion will premiere on Bravo on Monday, February 7. 

All episodes of Below Deck are available on hayu.

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