Finally… After producers were criticized for not putting its racist and homophobic cast members on blast in its primetime episodes, “Big Brother 15” on Sunday aired the offensive comments made by three of its houseguests during its 8 p.m. telecast.
The segment began with several of the housemates gathered in the HOH room discussing the language of Aaryn Gries. Howard Overby, who is African-American, began by saying how “some derogatory stuff has come out, the real her comes out, that she can’t apologize for.”
“She makes racist remarks too,” Amanda Zuckerman added.
“Does she know we’re on TV and you shouldn’t say stuff like that?” asked Judd Daughtery.
A montage of Gries’ offensive comments followed, including how she addressed Andy, a gay housemate, and how “no one’s going to vote for whoever that queer puts up.”
Gries, who was dropped by her modeling agency because of what she was caught saying on the 24/7 feeds, is then seen making racist comments about Asian American houseguest Helen Kim and how she should “go make some rice.” She also tells Nick Uhas “I probably look like a squinty Asian right now.”
The bad behavior continued in the kitchen, where she delivered a popular bit from comedian Anjelah Johnson regarding Vietnamese nail salon workers. “Why you no have boyfriend? It’s because you don’t want long nail!,” said Gries.
Houseguest GinaMarie Zimmerman, who also lost her job last week because of her loathsome behavior, was briefly exposed for making a racist comment about Candice Stewart, who is African-American. She is seen talking to Aaryn about how Stewart is on the dark side ”because she’s already dark.”
Even when these comments are made in fun, they’re still hurtful and are disrespectful,” Overby said in the diary room.
Fan sites began to put the heat on “Big Brother” last week after seeing and hearing several of the players make hateful comments on the internet feeds. A petition was created on Change.Org calling for Gries’ to be booted, at the same time the show released a statement saying how Gries and the others do not “represent the views or opinions of CBS or the producers of the program.”
Gries, who is head of household this week, nominated Kim and Elissa Slater for elimination on Sunday.
Meanwhile, another “Big Brother” houseguest has been criticized by his employer for offensive comments made in the house.
Spencer Clawson, a 31-year-old railroad conductor from Arkansas, has uttered gay slurs, praised Hitler as a gifted speaker and used the C-word. Clawson’s employer, Union Pacific Railroad, issued a statement Saturday distancing itself from his insensitive remarks, saying that they do not “condone his comments.”
“The values represented by Spencer Clawson’s comments during the ‘Big Brother’ show do not at all align with Union Pacific’s values. Mr. Clawson is on unpaid leave of absence while participating on ‘Big Brother.’ Union Pacific does not condone his comments,” the company’s statement reads. “Union Pacific is acting in accordance with Collective Bargaining Agreement terms regarding Mr. Clawson.”
