Aaryn Gries says she thought her racially-charged "jokes" wouldn't offend people because no one ever told her they weren't funny.
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The Big Brother houseguest, a 22-year-old college student from San Angelo, TX, admits she's been making racist "jokes" for years but insists she didn't know they were insulting since "no one had expressed that I was taken that way," TMZ reported.
Gries told the website she wishes she had been warned that her comments were offensive prior to entering the diverse Big Brother house -- which included African-American contestants Howard Overby and Candice Stewart along with Asian-American houseguest Helen Kim. Gries had also referred to gay houseguest Andy Herren as a "queer" during the season.
"I am not a racist," Gries added. "Sometimes you can say mindless things that will haunt you."
While Gries is trying to justify her controversial remarks by claiming ignorance, she apologized to her home state of Texas for telling Big Brother host Julie Chen her racist comments were just how Texans tend to speak.
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"Blaming Texas was the biggest mistake I made... I was in defense mode," she told TMZ.
Gries was also fired by her Zephyr Talent modeling agency in Texas for her comments, however she isn't too upset about it.
"You know, [my contract's] not there anymore, but to be honest with you, it really wasn't that great of an agency anyway," she boasted to CBS' KCBS-TV affiliate in Los Angeles after Big Brother's finale aired Wednesday night.
"And I have six meetings with six new agencies tomorrow, so it's a better step."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski