CBS has folded to resounding public outcry over several Big Brother houseguests’ controversial and racist comments. Viewers and subscribers of the uncensored 24-hour live feeds on CBS.com pressured the network to address the cast’s comments, which caused two houseguests to be fired from their day jobs.
The network initially released a statement stating that they do not condone the offensive comments, but they did not address them in the following episode that aired on July 3rd.
On the July 7 episode, CBS aired a segment spotlighting the derogatory remarks of the worst offenders, houseguests Aaryn Gries and GinaMarie Zimmerman.
Gries is seen speaking behind houseguest Helen Kim’s back, telling Kaitlin Barnaby that Kim, an Asian-American, should “go make some rice,” to which Barnaby responded, “That is rude.” Other Gries comments included: “I look, probably, like a squinty Asian right now.”
Zimmerman, who lost her job last week because of her offensive statements, was briefly exposed for making a racist comment about Candice Stewart, an African-American. She is shown telling Gries that Stewart is on the dark side ”because she’s already dark.”
The episode began with Howard Overby, an African-American, referencing his housemate’s bad behavior, stating “some derogatory stuff has come out, the real her comes out, that she can’t apologize for. That would be my only, I guess, personal matter with it.”
Housemate Judd Daughtery asked on the show, ”Does she know we’re on TV and you shouldn’t say stuff like that?”
This is a good question. These are the days of more subtle and clandestine racism, but fortunately this is also the time of the ubiquitous video camera. And every so often, this results in the ugly, hidden truth about racism in America coming into plain view.
Check out a video clip of the Houseguest addressing the racist comments below…
