Big Brother Contestant Aaryn Gries Evicted, Confronted For Racist Behavior
Big Brother contestant Aaryn Gries was evicted by fellow contestants on Thursday, allowing host Julie Chen to confront her for the first time for the racist behavior she displayed on the show.
After she was unanimously voted off the show by the other contestants, Aaryn sat with Chen for a biting interview.
Julie Chen asked Aaryn if she had an explanation for her behavior, but Aaryn appeared to dodge the issue and said the accusations were overblown. But when Chen read word-for-word accounts of what Aaryn had said, the college student changed her tune.
“I do not remember saying those things,” she said. “That was not meant to be serious, and if I said those things I feel horrible because I regret that.”
Earlier this season Aaryn displayed racist and homophobic behavior toward her fellow contestants. In a confrontation with Candice, an African-American contestant, Aaryn adopted an over-the-top black dialect to mock her. At another time she pointed to some snacks and said “I axed… I asked for it.” Aaryn then told Candice “You’ve got me saying axed!”
Candice later said, “I know how to talk. Clearly, that’s a dialect thing. I don’t know how I’m going to make it through this week.”
Aaryn Gries was also overheard mocking Asian-American contestant Helen and referring to openly gay contestant Andy as a queer.
The situation grew so dire that CBS inserted a disclaimer at the beginning of the show saying the views of the contestants did not reflect the network. CBS President Les Moonves even spoke out about the season, saying he found the behavior of Aaryn and other contestants “absolutely appalling.”
“Big Brother is obviously is a social experiment. It always was,” said CBS President Les Moonves. “Clearly that’s what’s happening this year.”
Though Julie Chen was able to confront Big Brother contestant Aaryn Gries about her racism on the show, Chen was not able to relay any news from the outside world. Gries will have to wait until the completion of the show to find out that she was fired by her employer for the racism on the show.
