Big Brother 15 is over, and as the house guests and jury members re-enter reality, they are learning about the lost jobs, massive blowback and general haterade from America, due to the many racist, misogynist and homophobic statements made inside the house.
Via THR, THR, Entertainment Tonight
Here are some of the house guest’s reactions:
Andy Herren won Big Brother by basically floating and playing both sides of the house. He didn’t make racist remarks, per se, but he stood by silently while hate speech happened. This, despite being the target of homophobic slurs. Andy is openly gay.
A little bit, yeah. I had no idea there was such a big deal. I know things were said in the house that people didn’t like and I didn’t like them either. But at the same time, I had no idea it was going to be this grand scope of things, that it was going to be so controversial. I really hope that myself and a lot of the people who weren’t really involved in that can come out of it with America knowing that none of that was at the helm of me or most of the people in the house.
Andy defends Spencer
Some of the things, and I’m not going to name names, but some of the things were more malicious than others, so some of the really malicious ones were problematic, but I’ll be honest, I don’t think Spencer ever meant anything bad with the things he said, so the fact they could be taken out of context and is put in a comprising position is sad. He’s a nice man who would not mean to hurt or offend anyone.
On Spencer repeatedly calling him a f*g
The thing is, that’s the type of relationship we have. Don’t get me wrong, I hate that word, but when you’re somebody who is so close to me, I knew that he was only saying because we were such good friends and he thought we could. He never said it maliciously to me.
On the college he worked for issuing a statement saying he’s currently not an employee:
I don’t know what to make of that because I wasn’t essentially teaching there. I didn’t have a full-time job. I was adjunct faculty, and so I worked semester to semester. If I lost my job over this, I’m going to be very upset because I don’t think I did anything to merit me losing my job. Sure, some of the stuff I said might have been ridiculous or vulgar but at the same time I did comedy and things like that so people understand it’s my personality. I never said anything that I thought was super mean. I mean, ughhh, maybe a little toward Elissa. I never said anything I thought was really, really malicious or hateful or racial or things like that, like a lot of the controversy of the season stemmed from. And I hope they understand that. You can ask any of my students that I have taught before, I am a caring, loving professor who loves what I do. If this hurt my career, I would definitely be upset about that. Hopefully people will see the true me and realize that if I’m associated with that stuff, it’s wrongfully so. I hope all will be well.
Aaryn Gries was by no means the only houseguest to make awful remarks, but she was singled out by CBS to be the face of BB15 racism. When you read her reaction to finding out she lost her job, and just how widespread the outrage is, remember she’s being coached by PR specialists her mother hired.
Somewhat. I am somewhat upset that my accomplishments have been overshadowed but I own up to what I did. I should have never said those things. I need to start thinking before I speak. My brain wasn’t in the right place. And I’ll fix it.
Aaryn doesn’t care about losing her job with Zepher Talent Agency, because she wasn’t working for them anyway.
I really wasn’t actively working for them and we were on the rocks before I even came here. But I have six new agencies that want to interview me, so, I’m OK.
She swears she and Candice became BFFs in the Jury House
I definitely was shocked with how serious things were taken. Some of the things were taken out of context but either way, I definitely regret saying those things. I never wanted to hurt or offend anyone, and when I realized how I had affected people, it made me really think about how I’m going about things. And I need to be more cognizant of what I’m doing and saying all the time.”
Gina Marie Zimmerman, said her share of nasty things too. She lost her job at East Coast USA Pageant Inc. shortly after her remarks came to light. Unlike, Aaryn, Gina is feeling heartsick.
Zimmerman called her firing “unfortunate, because pageant’s my whole world and so are the kids.” When she elaborated further, she admitted that “it’s a little tear at my heart a little bit because that’s my life. I kind of don’t know what I’m going to do without it.”
But she understood why the company did what they did. “I represent me and also the pageant corporation, and they have to back up their back,” she said. “I am a good person and I do have a big heart and I do work really hard no matter what I do. I’m always there for them, and hopefully when time passes, they might welcome me back. We just got to wait and see what happens.
Things were said, I think sometimes out of anger. We’re watched 24/7, but I don’t think any of us thought it was blowing up the way it did. I speak for myself and other houseguests when I say that if we offended anyone, we are sorry.
GinaMarie’s response to why she used the N word:
I love hip-hop music. Sometimes they use that word — I have a big mouth, I’m Italian, I’m from New York; sometimes I might curse, sometimes I might say things. I don’t think it’s right for them to use the n-word in music. I know all different nationalities and religions. I’m influenced by all of that because I see it all. I guess I should just watch what I say.
Spencer Clawson used the c-word, the f-word and joked around about child porn, causing his employer, Union Pacific Railroad, to release a statement.
I hope I continue working for them. After this, I’ve got a big mess to clean up back home with my home and maybe some people in my town, but at the same time, hopefully I can handle that with the grace that I handled being up on the block in the house so much. I just got to stay calm, cool and hopefully everything will work out for me.
There was so many inappropriate things said that I would never say. I tried to stay out, as much as possible, of the racially charged things said that I don’t condone. But at the same time I made some off-color comments that maybe offended people, and I’m sorry for that. When you’re in an environment like this, you say stupid things because you’re just talking all day. I’m so sorry for anything I said, I apologize if I hurt anyone — or any group of people — with the things I said. I hope the good things I did outweigh the bad things I said. I feel bad that people were hurt over the things that were said in here because I don’t think the people who are taking the brunt of this are hateful people. I blame maturity. Some people just need to grow up a bit.
Amanda Zuckerman made plenty of racist remarks but was never called on it. But she was called out for being a bully. And America generally hated her.
Bullying is a very hot topic right now, and it’s viewed differently by different people. I personally don’t feel like I was bullying anyone. I played a really strong game and I was loyal to my alliance. I’m a strong woman and that can rub people the wrong way, but that made me a strong competitor and that’s why I made it far in the game
You know, this is the first time we were all in the public eye and I think a lot of us misspoke. I don’t think anything was said to hurt anybody, I think it was just ignorance. I’m sure I said things too, which I’m deeply apologetic for. I didn’t want to hurt anyone.
I just found out today that those comments were being held against me. I’m surprised by that. There was no malicious intent behind any of that. The thing is, I’m not racist. I’ve lived in places that are very mixed, culturally. I make racy jokes. I think a lot of the things I said were taken out of context, but it doesn’t matter, there’s no excuse for the things I said and, again, I apologize to anyone I offended.
Candice Stewart, the African American woman who bore the brunt of the racist remarks is taking the high road.
What hurt me the most is Aaryn and I have very similar backgrounds: she was a cheerleader, she did pageants, all these things I did too. So why didn’t she like me? Just because of my skin color? That’s what hurt the most.
But I’ve grown as a person and a lot of the things I was subjected to were from Aaryn, and I will say this: I did not believe Aaryn could change, but once she got evicted from the game and booed after Julie’s challenging questions, she came into the jury house and I saw her growing as a human being. I believe this all stems from how she was raised. I don’t think it’s racism, I think it’s ignorance. She’s so young. For me, I had to embrace her with love and to be totally honest with you, we’ve come to a good place. We’re not going shopping or anything, but maybe Facebook friends.
I think Aaryn’s heart convicted her. After she got booed I think she started looking back on how she was raised and how closed-minded she was. I saw her starting to make her own views of the world, which I love because if she can do that, everyone in America can do that. Racism is still very much alive in America and if you meet hate with hate, we’re never going to change and grow. For me, I’m going to do like Jesus did and forgive.
