Gay Man Who Fell From Royal Caribbean Ship Was Accused Of Being A Pedophile, New Video Shows
New video has been released in the case of Bernardo Elbaz, the gay man presumed dead after falling from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship off the coast of Turks and Caicos Friday morning, bolstering previous claims that he was being bullied by allegedly homophobic staff in the hours before the plunge.
Attorneys for Elbaz and Royal Caribbean have disputed the events that led up to the incident. Originally, Elbaz's husband of one year, who was on the cruise with him, suggested his husband fell from their stateroom balcony following a confrontation with security after he was allegedly called "lipstick" as a slur by bar staff who over-served him earlier that evening.
Royal Caribbean maintained that security staff were in the room responding to a domestic dispute.
After the release of the video below, Elbaz's attorney Michael Winkleman acknowledged that Elbaz had thrown himself over the balcony railing in an "act of protest" while security was in his room. He claims Elbaz was intoxicated and infuriated over Royal Caribbean staff's insinuation that he was using his cell phone at the pool to take photos of children.
“I have a husband, I am not a pedophile, ok?" Elbaz says in the video below, taken by his husband as the pair sat on their stateroom bed. "I record everywhere I go except in the casino because that’s international law.”
Winkleman said the video “clearly shows that this had nothing to do with a domestic dispute but instead had everything to do with repeated anti-gay bullying being done by various Royal Caribbean staff and crew members."
He added: "What's most important is this was not a domestic dispute, this was not a suicide. This was an act of protest based on the way that this legally gay, legally married couple was mistreated by Royal Caribbean."
