The Traitors: Michael Rapaport's Trumpian attack on Colton Underwood backfired

Beware: Spoilers ahead for The Traitors season 4, episode 5, "If You're Gonna Come for Me, I'll Finish You."

Michael Rapaport admitted he went "too far" when he came for Colton Underwood's "secret" — and it cost him his time on The Traitors season 4.

The Atypical actor, who has a long history of offensive remarks, brought his self-described "trash talk" to the roundtable ("banishment ceremony") on episode 5. Rapaport's arguments against gay contestant Colton Underwood came off as homophobic, which some players cited as their reason for voting him off.

Rapaport came for Underwood after the former professional football player brought up his name as a possible Traitor prior to the roundtable.

"Conniving, commiserating Colton," Rapaport labeled Underwood in front of the group. "Nobody in this room would be better at holding a secret than you."

(Like President Donald Trump, Rapaport is prone to using alliterative labels to disparage his opponents. And though the audience is unable to confirm Rapaport's intent, his mention of Underwood's "secret" was enough of a dog whistle to rattle the queer and ally contestants — while leaving the door open for plausible deniability.)

Colton Underwood; Michael Rapaport on The Traitors season 4.Peacock

As background, Underwood's sexuality — and his time in the closet — had been established to his Traitors cast mates earlier in the episode during breakfast. "He was on The Bachelor, and he hadn't come out, and he was dating 30 women," Survivor winner Natalie Anderson told the table, where Rapaport was present.

Indeed, Underwood came out in 2021 on Good Morning America after almost three decades in the closet. And he interpreted Rapaport's accusation of "holding a secret" to refer to this history.

"There it is," Underwood replied. "You think it was fun for 29 years of my life?"

Others picked up on a dog whistle as well. "You can't blame somebody being forced into a closet for the majority of their life," said Johnny Weir, who himself knows something about the closet; he came out in 2011 following his final Olympic Games as a figure skater in 2010.

Maura Higgins; Colton Underwood; Lisa Rinna on The Traitors season 4.Peacock

"Very low blow," Love Island's Maura Higgins agreed.

Rapaport replied, "I don't think it was."

"It was," Survivor winner Yam Yam Arocho remarked.

"I'm not talking about closets!" Rapaport maintained, before burying himself further: "His behavior is of a Traitor. His behavior is secretive, it's conniving, it's chirping, it's commiserating, it's cowardly."

Rightly, Love Island USA star Rob Rausch whipped out the dictionary at this point: "Commiseration means to feel sorry for someone," he corrected.

Rob Rausch on The Traitors season 4.Peacock

After this exchange, some contestants expressed at the roundtable that, whether he be Traitor or Faithful, Rapaport had effectively made himself worthy of banishment for his remarks. "Today, the way you spoke with Colton? It's enough to write your name down," said Anderson. "I think we should just get together and vote him out of here."

"At this point, I don't want to be in the same room as you," Underwood said. And after he wrote Rapaport's name down for elimination, he added, "You've been pretty lucky to get this far," a nod to how difficult he has been with the cast as a whole, particularly with another queer contestant, Yam Yam, with whom Rapaport started a feud over a shield in an earlier episode.

And as Underwood said in his confessional, "I'm typically pretty good at separating game and not playing super emotional, but Michael is now at the point where it's become offensive to a few of us. And that doesn't keep you around very long. This might be the straw that broke the camel's back."

Johnny Weir; Yam Yam Arocho; Kristen Kish on The Traitors season 4.Peacock

Ultimately, Rapaport received the majority of votes for banishment and revealed himself to be a Faithful. In his parting confessional, he expressed some contrition for his remarks toward Underwood.

"It sucks, but I felt backed into a corner, and I tried to fight my way out of it," he said. "Maybe I fought too hard. I meant what I meant within the context of the game. It had nothing to do with his sexuality. I really, sincerely apologize if I offended Colton or anybody in the house. That absolutely wasn't the intention. I'm a fan of the game, I played hard. I played a good game, except for when it went a little too far, which sucks."

The Traitors season 4 is streaming weekly new episodes every Thursday on Peacock.

Alan Cumming on The Traitors season 4.Peacock