'Big Brother' Racism Scandal 'Offended' Host Julie Chen
"Big Brother" fans were somewhat surprised to hear the racist, offensive comments come out of two contestants' mouths during the latest episode. Host Julie Chen recently stated that she, too, was offended by the comments.
"Personally, I was offended," Chen told TMZ. "I was offended by all the comments – the anti-gay, the anti-black, but especially the anti-Asian ones … for obvious reasons. I'm hopeful she'll change her view of the world."
The comments were caught on tape via the show's live feeds, and CBS aired them on Sunday night's episode, causing ratings to skyrocket. Two contestants named GinaMarie and Aaryn were discussing the various houseguests when the comments were made.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Aaryn called one of the contestants a homophobic slur and told Helen, an Asian-American woman, to "shut up and go make some rice." She also cautioned a friend to "be careful what you say in the dark, you might not be able to see that b----" when talking about Candice, an African-American woman.
Aaryn and GinaMarie are still inside the house, isolated from the rest of the world, and are clueless to the fact that they have both been fired from their real jobs as a result of their comments.
"Big Brother is a reality show about watching a group of people who have no privacy 24/7 – and seeing every moment of their lives. At times, the Houseguests reveal prejudices and other beliefs that we do not condone. We certainly find the statements made by several of the Houseguests on the live Internet feed to be offensive," CBS executives told BuzzFeed.
"Any views or opinions expressed in personal commentary by a Houseguest appearing on Big Brother, either on any live feed from the House or during the broadcast, are those of the individual(s) speaking and do not represent the views or opinions of CBS or the producers of the program," they added.
Fans are also somewhat upset with Howard, the contestant who overheard the conversation. He did not mention anything about the situation to his fellow contestants, which struck viewers as odd. Could it be part of his game play? He could be waiting to use the information at an opportune time, or he could be trying to keep the peace.
