'Survivor 50' Roiled With Controversy Over Allegations About Jonathan Young

When Survivor contestant Jonathan Young splashed onto the scene in Season 42, he revealed himself to be a competitor early on. Although he didn't ultimately take the big win home, he was a controversial fan favorite for his outspoken and brash behavior, so much so that he was invited back for Survivor 50.

However, it wasn't long before Jonathan was at the heart of a controversy that centered on allegations he mistreated female contestants on the show.

Jonathan eventually spoke out about the accusations, giving a different perspective. Here's what we know about the controversy.

Jonathan is a bodyguard and an athlete in his everyday life, with a real penchant for being in the water. He has an aggressive, over-the-top personality that translates well to competitiveness for fans.

However, is he also a bit of a menace on set?

Although Jonathan's behavior took center stage again after Survivor 50, it all started during Survivor 42. Fellow contestant Lindsay Dolashewich wasn't flattering when recalling Jonathan's behavior during her exit interview. She went so far as to call him a "misogynist."

She told Entertainment Weekly, "To put it in a quick sentence, Jonathan's a misogynist. Or at least it felt that way on the island."

She added, "I'm not someone who's going to be talked to that way in real life. In real life, I would never have accepted being spoken to that way for myself or anybody else that I would've seen that happen [to], but it's a social game so you really can't say that. In my mind, that was very infuriating internally for me."

Linday mused, "I was thinking, ‘Oh, maybe he is underfed. Maybe it’s just because I’m a very outspoken person. He’s very alpha. Maybe it’s because I’m kind of alpha too.' And then as time went on, I started being able to gather like, ‘Okay, this is a trend that I notice.' I noticed that I couldn’t tell Jonathan a strategy, Omar had to do it. So when Omar would pitch it, Jonathan would listen. If I pitched it, [it] would get neglected.”

Season 42 winner Maryanne Oketch also had unflattering things to say about Jonathan's behavior.

Eventually, Jonathan felt compelled to explain himself and offer a defense.

In a May 2022 interview with Entertainment Weekly, he attempted to clear the air.

He told the outlet, "Man, I hate that they felt that way. Because whenever I got a chance to talk about them, I would give them praise. I would say, 'You guys are doing great.' Lindsay, I would always talk about, 'She's such a dominant force to be in these challenges. We got to get her out because she's so good.' And that's what I would do is I'd try to build them up, and I hate that they ... Now they get to see that I was always lifting them up."

His behavior was thrown into the spotlight again after Survivor 50, however, it seemed to be mostly recycled rumors online with few of any substance.

It's unclear whether Jonathan, Lindsay, and Maryanne ever had a chance to discuss the allegations and clear things up.