MTV Cuts Ties With ‘Challenge’ Contestant Dee Nguyen, Says Her Comments On Black Lives Matter Were ‘Offensive’
MTV has officially cut ties with Dee Nguyen, one of the contestants on the current season of The Challenge. In a post on the show’s official Twitter page, the network wrote that the season would still aired as planned.
“As a result of Dee Nguyen’s offensive comments on the Black Lives Matter movement, we have severed ties with her. Out of respect for our Challengers, we’ll air our season as planned. We strongly condemn systemic racism and stand with those raising their voices against injustice,” the statement read.
The news comes following a tweet that Nguyen sent over the weekend in which she seemed to make light of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“IDK why some of you think I’m anti-BLM. I’ve been saying that since the day I lost my virginity,” she wrote in a tweet which has since been deleted, according to People.
Her co-stars on the show as well as many fans weighed in following the tweet, writing that they were “disgusted and disappointed” by her comments.
Bayleigh Dayton, one of her fellow contestants, shamed Nguyen for leveraging the death of black people in order to raise her own clout. Tula “Big T” Fazakerley, another contestant on the show, also weighed in, saying that she wasn’t surprised by the comments because of the way Nguyen had treated her on the show.
Fazakerley shared an Instagram Story in which she claimed that Nguyen said she was blacker than Fazakerley. Fazakerley continued, saying that she felt that Nguyen wanted her to conform to stereotypes about how black people behave.
In the wake of the controversy, Nguyen shared several apologies on social media. The first came on Sunday, when she said she was sorry for the tweet. She explained that she was being defensive and not speaking from the heart, but realized that this wasn’t an excuse. She also apologized to her co-stars.
On Tuesday, Nguyen apologized again, this time with a post on Instagram in which she said that the controversy had led her to realize that what matters most is forgiveness. She made another apology to any co-stars that she had hurt directly or indirectly, and said that she believed in Black Lives Matter. She then announced that she would be stepping away from social media to focus on her mental health and well-being. She said this was not a goodbye, and added a thank you to her fans who had supported her throughout her journey.
