TODAY – “Big Brother” was rocked by controversy early last week when subscribers to the show’s live stream heard two contestants make racist and homophobic remarks about their fellow players. And on Sunday night, CBS aired some of the comments made by Aaryn Gries and GinaMarie Zimmerman.
Contestant Howard Overby was the one to call out the issue to some of his fellow house guests while the two women were out of the room, noting that Gries — who became Head of Household Sunday — had made “derogatory” remarks that “you can’t apologize for.”
The show then aired a series of clips in which the 22-year-old pretended to be an Asian nail salon worker, told a pal that Korean-American housemate Helen Kim should “shut up, go make some rice,” and said that if player Andy Herren got MVP, no one would vote for whoever “that queer” nominates.
When fellow houseguest Zimmerman noted that African-American contestant Candice Stewart “is on the dark side, but she’s already dark,” Gries added, “Be careful what you say in the dark because you might not be able to see the b—-.”
At one point during Gries’ string of derogatory comments, another player said, “Dude, that’s rude!”
Overby, who is also African-American, now wants Gries out of the house for her remarks, but it sounds like he won’t be confronting her.
“Even when these comments are made in fun, they still hurt and are disrespectful, especially when that person isn’t there to hear it and back themselves up,” he told the cameras of the comments he heard Gries make. “It could privvy me to losing my temper, but that’s a no-no. I have to keep my eyes down the field for the bigger prize.”
Contestant Amanda Zuckerman also shared her thoughts about Gries’ remarks, saying, “She makes comments that are completely inappropriate, where she makes fun of other people for what they look like and their ethnicity, and I think that’s going to hurt her — a lot — in the game and outside the game.”
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