Warning! The following contains spoilers from Big Brother Season 25’s latest episode that aired on Wednesday, September 6th. Read at your own risk!
While Big Brother was quick to take action earlier in Season 25 when a Houseguest violated its code of conduct, it has avoided addressing the latest controversy involving the Week 5 Head of Household, Jared Fields. Jared stirred up a lot of controversy over Labor Day weekend with his use of a slur, and while the CBS series continues to ignore the moment, the Special Olympics sent a strong message via social media.
To start at the beginning – those watching the latest episode of Big Brother might’ve seen that Jared wasn’t too pleased with America Lopez when he thought she was intentionally losing competitions. Viewers saw a heated discussion between Cory Wurtenberger and Jared about America, which conveniently excluded the controversial incident that those monitoring the live feeds with their Paramount+ subscriptions witnessed. Jared called America a slur used to disparage people with intellectual disabilities, which further caused the tension between him and Cory.
The moment wasn’t aired on the latest episode of Big Brother, but the clip of Jared apologizing for the slur has been circulating since the result of the Week 5 veto competition. The lack of action by CBS and Big Brother prompted a response from the family of Season 25 Houseguest Jag Bains. He works with the Special Olympics in his spare time, and the post both condemned Jared’s harmful use of language in a statement on his Instagram page and caught the attention of the nonprofit. This was posted on his account:
Although Luke Valentine was not mentioned by name, the statement referred to Season 25’s controversy with Luke, when he was expelled for his use of a racial slur. CBS wasted little time, and Luke was kicked out the following morning after the incident. To compare, it’s been five days at the time of writing since people watching Big Brother online heard Jared’s remarks. It’s unclear why the show hasn’t acted on the incident, as there’s no public comment from the series or network about it.
The statement made by Jag Bains’ family received support from the Special Olympics official account, which shared its own statement via comment on the post. The message combined disappointment with Big Brother and gratitude for the efforts being made by Bains’ family:
Special Olympics stands behind Jag Bains and his family in their condemnation of the use of the r-word by a contestant on CBS’s Big Brother. Jag has worked tirelessly in helping our organization eradicate its use through education, advocacy and inclusion. We are grateful that Jag’s family will be donating to their local Special Olympics programs through ‘Team Jag’ merchandise. Words matter – and when we #ChooseToInclude, everybody wins.
Team Jag shirts are available at this link, and cost $26.00 USD. With such a strong statement from the Special Olympics, one has to wonder if this will encourage Big Brother to respond. With Thursday’s live eviction episode around the corner, there’s still a chance for the network to acknowledge the incident in some way and at least help raise awareness about the behavior being unacceptable if explicit action isn’t taken against Jared. In an era where Big Brother tries to move away from the more problematic moments of its past, it would seem some acknowledgment would be necessary.
Big Brother airs on CBS this Thursday, September 7th at 9:00 p.m. ET. Tune in to see which Houseguest will be sent home, and learn the details of what’s ahead in the week to come.