Big Brother aired an unprecedented disclaimer during Sunday night's broadcast on CBS regarding the racial and homophobic slurs made by some of the fifteenth-season houseguests that have made national headlines.
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The network is apparently attempting to separate itself from particular houseguests' controversial views that have been shown on Big Brother and have caused an uproar amongst offended viewers.
"Big Brother is a reality show about a group of people who have no privacy 24/7. At times, the Houseguests may reveal prejudices and other beliefs that CBS does not condone," CBS said in a message that aired at the very beginning of last night's broadcast.
"Views or opinions expressed by a Houseguest are those of the individuals speaking and do not represent the views or opinions of CBS. Viewer discretion is advised."
CBS had previously released a media statement condemning the comments after which they edited the slurs into last week's broadcast because, according to Big Brother host Julie Chen, the network finally deemed such remarks relevant -- especially those made by houseguest Aaryn Gries -- to the season's gameplay.
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Gries' comments aired as a short edited segment during Big Brother's July 7 broadcast. She was shown making racial and homophobic remarks in multiple conversations with her fellow houseguests.
"Dude, shut up. Go make some rice," Gries said. "I look, probably, like a squinty Asian right now... No one's going to vote for whoever that queer puts up."
At one point, houseguest GinaMarie Zimmerman was shown joining in on the trash-talking.
"[Candice Stewart] is already on the dark side because she's already dark," Zimmerman joked.
"Be careful what you say in the dark because you might not be able to see the b-tch," Gries replied.
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While Gries and Zimmerman's remarks were the focus of the episode's controversial footage, several other houseguests have been shown making similar comments during the 24/7 live Internet feeds. They include Jeremy McGuire, Spencer Clawson and Kaitlin Barnaby.
After live-feed viewers began complaining about the comments on social media and message boards, Gries and Zimmerman both consequently lost their jobs, unbeknownst to them thus far.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski