Man Who Fell Overboard Royal Caribbean Ship Was Taunted By Crew With Gay Slurs Prior, Hence Did Not Want Their Help


In a dramatic video filmed by passengers on board a Royal Caribbean Cruise ship, a man plunged to his supposed death in the waters below. The Oasis of the Seas ship was en-route to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when the passenger reportedly leapt onto a life raft from the edge of the ship and then intentionally went overboard about 1 a.m. on November 6. In the background of the video, the screams of his husband can be heard telling the crew to save him, but he eventually slipped and fell into the churning sea. Emerging reports from the victim’s husband though, state definitively that the man falling overboard was not intentional.

The Inquisitr earlier reported that after searching an area of 931 square nautical miles, the U.S. Coast Guard have called off the search for the missing man on Saturday. Bernardo and Eric Elbaz, had been married for about a year and decided to take the Royal Caribbean cruise as a birthday celebration for Eric who had turned 34 on Wednesday. However, the couple’s cabin on the seventh deck of the Oasis of the Seas ship became the site of tragedy as Bernardo, a 31-year-old Brazilian, fell from the balcony of their room. In the video, crew members are shown attempting to rescue the man, but his shouts of “don’t touch me” and “let go of me” can be clearly heard. At the time of the tragic incident, the ship was about 17 miles east of the Turks and Caicos Islands. According to the Examiner, the ships captain says the seas that Bernardo Elbaz went overboard into included water swells up to 7 feet.

There have been some conflict regarding which man was yelling what on the video some claims were made that Bernardo was yelling at the crew who were trying to rescue him that it is because of them that the whole incident happened, but others state that it was a panicked family member – Eric – who was yelling. There were also yells of “get off me. you murdered him,” that can be placed in context based on emerging statements from the lawyer who represents Bernardo’s spouse Eric Elbaz. The crew members of Oasis of the Seas are giving a different tale than Bernardo’s spouse, who claims they were making gay slurs.

“Because of you, this happened…. I’m not going anywhere…. Let go of me! Get off of me!”

Bernardo Elbaz was a film maker who lived in New York with his husband. Miami attorney Michael Winkleman is the family’s lawyer and states that his interviews with a distraught Eric has brought to light a vastly different story of how his husband went overboard than Royal Caribbean’s official statement. The company released the statement of Friday and said that crew members saw the missing man “intentionally” jump over the side of the ship and go overboard.

“Our on-board security team responded to the guest’s stateroom after a neighbouring guest complained about a domestic dispute on the guest’s balcony. Our staff did not have a physical altercation with the guest and were unable to prevent his jumping from the stateroom balcony.”

Eric Elbaz denies that he and his husband were having a domestic dispute and that Bernardo falling overboard was a suicide, as reported by many sources. According to Sun Sentinel Winkleman said Eric reported that the couple had suffered homophobic harassment and gay slurs from the crew members of the cruise earlier. Whilst at the bar they were subject to gay slurs like, “Hey, Lipstick,” and that “Bernardo was sensitive about those issues.” Eric says he left Bernardo at the bar and when his husband eventually came to the room after midnight, he told him that there had been a fight between him and some crew members following more anti-gay remarks.

Bernardo was inebriated at the time and was crying and swearing at the crew members, who Eric believed followed him to the room. He reportedly threw a chair and lamp in his anger and the security staff visited their room, at which time a longer altercation occurred with “maybe as many as five or six crew members.” The door to their balcony was open and that is when an inebriated Bernardo fell onto the life raft below before going overboard into the waters.

Based on this information, Elbaz’s screams to the crew that they murdered his husband and Bernardo’s screams to the crew to let go of him and that him being in the raft is because of them can be viewed differently. Winkleman says that Eric Elbaz cannot be assuaged in his grief and holds Royal Caribbean responsible for the death of his husband. Family members of the Brazilian are urging the Coast Guard to resume the search for Bernardo Elbaz’s body.

The Royal Caribbean cruise line did not respond to requests for a statement in light of this new information about their crew using gay slurs and engaging in homophobic behavior.

[Photo Courtesy Of Matt Cardy/ Getty Images]

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