The Way Michael Rapaport Ate on ‘Traitors’ Offended Fans as Much as His Behavior Did
The controversial actor was eliminated from the competition midway through Season 4.
Published Jan. 16 2026, 11:26 a.m. ET
Part of the appeal of The Traitors is seeing some of the most controversial celebrities and reality stars being forced to be a team while living in a gorgeous castle. As fans know, not every celeb is on the team's side, showing that they've been a traitor all along.
During Season 4 of The Traitors, one of the show's most controversial contestants, Michael Rapaport, came in making waves against the competition. In Season 4, Ep. 5, he was voted out of the competition by being, you guessed it, controversial. But not before fans couldn't help but judge his eating habits.
Here's what to know.
Michael Rapaport's style of eating was heavily criticized by 'The Traitors' watchers.
In the Jan. 15, 2026 episode of The Traitors, fans noticed that Michael tended to his meals a bit differently than the other contestants. In a scene from Ep. 5, The New Edition Story star ate dinner in a peculiar manner. During a scene, he's seen eating a bowl of pasta, but not just any old way. Rather than holding the fork to his mouth like the rest of us, Michael thought it would be more efficient to put his mouth on the entire plate as he scooped his pasta into his mouth. Don't believe me? See it for yourself below!
Unsurprisingly, fans spotted what Michael did and instantly judged it on social media. The scene was reposted from several TikTok users, including @lucas_herren, who was convinced the actor doesn't eat like that IRL.
"Michael Rapaport eating? He's actually eating the plate. The porcelain plate," Lucas noticed. "What the f--k is he doing? Seriously??"
Other Traitors fans agreed that Michael's eating choice was a bit odd and dragged him for it.
"Mind you this was the SECOND time he’s done this," one fan wrote.
"WHY would he do that?!?!" another asked with crying-laughing emojis
"This sent me into orbit," a third user wrote.
Michael Rapaport was voted out of 'The Traitors' for making an alleged homophobic comment.
Although his eating habits were undoubtedly entertaining, Michael's time on The Traitors ended during the same episode he devoured a porcelain plate in. During the episode 5 Roundtable in Traitors, the Atypical star got into a verbal altercation with former The Bachelor star Colton Underwood. After Colton accused Michael of being a Traitor, the actor said Colton was more inclined to hide his identity than he was.
"Nobody in this room would be better at holding a secret than you,” Michael told the reality star.
Colton was immediately offended, as his foe was seemingly alluding to the fact that he dated women on The Bachelor before he came out as gay, a decision he's since said he was forced into because he was being blackmailed by an individual who had threatened to release a photo of him.
“There it is,” Colton replied to Michael. “You think it was fun for 29 years of my life?”
Michael attempted to convince Colton that he wasn't implying anything about his sexuality and was only suggesting he wanted to be a traitor from day one. However, his opponents weren't buying it. After a private discussion, the rest of the group voted him out of the castle. Former professional ice skater Johnny Weir said he wanted Michael out regardless of if he was on the team's side or not.
"I don’t give a s--t what you are,” the Olympian told Michael. “I just want you out of my castle.”
Michael accepted his fate and decided to leave the castle. Many fans who have a problem with homophobia were happy to see him and his awful eating habits go.
Catch new episodes of The Traitors on Thursdays exclusively on Peacock.