Since Survivor has been around for decades, fans of Jeff Probst’s beloved reality show have seen many incredible things. For example, fans who are past the point of figuring out which seasons to watch first have seen many incredible things, like several medical evacuations. On top of that, fans who know which former players have refused to return will be able to list how many incredible Survivor seasons there have been and the amazing ways that people have won.

Even after fans have seen the show’s most iconic players compete, many have still been blown away by Survivor 48’s David Kinne. One reason for that is that David did something so cringe during Survivor 48 that viewers had huge reactions.

David Kinne’s Tribal Council Activity Was Truly Strange

When people look back at Survivor 48 years from now, there will be several players who will no doubt stand out among the cast. For example, Kyle Fraser and Kamilla Karthigesu will be remembered for their strategy, while Joe Hunter and Eva Erickson will be known for their connection. It also seems very clear that Shauhin Davari and Star Toomey will both be remembered for how fun and lovable they were.

Another Survivor 48 player who will no doubt go down in the show’s history is David Kinne. By the time David was voted out of Survivor 48, he’d already made his mark on the show for several reasons. However, it now seems like David will largely be remembered for the cringe move he pulled during a tribal council.

At one point, David was a major part of Survivor 48’s dominant alliance. However, David’s bond with most of his allies was then torn asunder, and he was unceremoniously voted out by them.

After David’s torch was snuffed, he joined the jury and fans likely expected him to fade into the background until Survivor 48’s finale. However, David continued to grab the spotlight with his unusual behavior during tribal councils.

Throughout Survivor history, there have been players who pretty obviously became bitter jury members. One of the earliest indicators that a jury member has an axe to grind is when they are shown staring down the players who are still in the game from the jury box.

While David revealed that he was just pretending to be bitter during the final tribal council, he communicated anger as soon as he joined the jury. While jury members usually look serious, David was shown looking at the remaining players with such intensity that it was easy to imagine him hoping they would spontaneously combust. To be clear, David clearly was only pretending to be furious, but he certainly looked like he had that level of animosity.

When David was voted out of Survivor 48, one of his allies didn’t turn on him. After they seemed to have a close bond during the game, Mary Zheng didn’t cast her vote against David. Instead, Mary voted with David to try to send Mitch Guerra to the jury.

After David was voted out, it didn’t take long for Mary to follow him to the jury. While Mary was able to survive one tribal council, she came in 7th place after David came in 9th place. It was the way that David reacted to Mary getting voted out that will likely be his most memorable Survivor moment.

When Mary stood up to get her torch so Jeff Probst could snuff it, the show cut to David from the jury box with an extremely intense look on his face. Then, David did something completely strange.

As Mary was getting ready to have her torch snuffed, David stood up and maintained the serious and intense look on his face. While it now seems like David was messing with the players who were still in the game, what he did came across as some sort of protest to Mary getting voted out.

Unfortunately for David, an image that was uploaded to X/Twitter of the moment communicates how strange he came across. Worse yet, the image shows Star Toomey sitting behind David seemingly trying to hold in her laughter at what appeared to be his standing protest.

Survivor 48 Fans Didn’t Hold Back While Mocking David Kinne’s Cringe Tribal Council Protest

In May 2025, In Touch Weekly published an article featuring several fan reactions to David Kinne standing at the tribal council. Unfortunately for David, a lot of the social media reactions to him standing up during tribal were mocking him.

As In Touch Weekly’s article detailed, one fan called David’s standing moment out for being extremely embarrassing.

In Touch Weekly’s article also quoted another Survivor fan who expressed their opinion that David stood up to get attention. “David still somehow making it about him from the jury bench. So embarrassing.” Yet another fan that In Touch Weekly‘s article quoted made fun of the fact that David’s fellow players were laughing at him standing up.

“We all know David felt so hardcore standing up like that, but everyone was absolutely dying of laughter at him.”

Fortunately for him, at least David seemed to have a sense of humor about the fan reaction to him standing up. Another fan mocked David for standing up on social media. “David what are you doing??? SIT DOWN 😂 Star was fighting for her life in the background 😭😭 #Survivor #Survivor48.” David responded to that post on his X/Twitter account by joking about how good the lighting looked when he stood up.

It is also worth noting that while David standing up was widely mocked and ridiculed, there were some Survivor fans who praised David for that moment too.