Source: Frederick M. Brown / Getty
In today’s episode of “See, This is Why We’re Collecting Folding Chairs Now,” a white contestant on the reality competition show Big Brother has been removed from the cast after casually using the N-word out of nowhere.
CBS confirmed Wednesday that 30-year-old Luke Valentine is off the show after he used the racial slur in footage that aired on the series’ 24-hour live feed, according to HuffPost:
In the clip, Valentine drops the slur during a casual conversation with other contestants before covering his mouth and correcting himself, saying “dude.” He then turns to fellow contestant Jared Fields, who is Black and sitting nearby, and says “I’m sorry” while laughing.
CBS announced later Wednesday that it was ejecting Valentine from the show and that his removal would be discussed on an upcoming episode.
“Luke violated the BIG BROTHER code of conduct and there is zero tolerance in the house for using a racial slur,” the network said in a statement. “He has been removed from the house. His departure will be addressed in Thursday night’s show.”
Yeah—it’s hard to imagine that it was the first time Valentine had said it. Perhaps he wasn’t quite used to Black people being around, which would explain why he became hyperaware that there was one sitting within earshot only after using the words among his white peers on the show.
Maybe he felt comfortable saying it because the reality show he was on had a history of letting racist white contestants run wild on Black cast members and go unchallenged. But, no, CBS would certainly never allow such a thing. Oh, wait…
More from HuffPost:
Valentine’s removal comes early on in the show’s 25th season, which just began airing last week.
The show, which locks contestants in a house together under the premise that they must vote each other out until one person is left with a $750,000 cash prize, has been rife with racial incidents in the past. The 15th season, which aired in 2013, featured a cast member who made numerous racist and homophobic remarks, including calling a Black contestant “Aunt Jemima” and referring to Asians as “squinty-eyed.” Several of the other cast members made similarly offensive remarks.
CBS didn’t kick any contestants out, but Les Moonves, the network’s CEO and president of at the time, reflected after: “What you see there unfortunately is a reflection of how certain people feel in America,” and added he personally found the behavior “absolutely appalling.”
Well, apparently, it finally got “appalling” enough for CBS to stop subjecting Black people to racist white nonsense.
