- Season 26 housemate Brooklyn Rivera is connected to the controversial star Aaryn Gries.
- Fans are already talking online about this connection even before the show starts.
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Big Brother’s newest season hasn’t even started, but it’s already causing much trouble. People online found out that Brooklyn Rivera, a new housemate, is connected to a former contestant named Aaryn Gries, who was accused of making racist comments.
Season 26 of the CBS show, hosted by Julie Chen Moonves, will begin with two episodes on Wednesday and Thursday. Sixteen new housemates will be moving into the famous TV house.
Fans are upset with the producers for choosing 34-year-old business administrator Brooklyn Rivera. They discovered she is friends with 33-year-old Aaryn Gries, now known as Aaryn Williams, who made racist comments during her time on the show in 2013.
Advertisement On Reddit, one person asked, “Did the casting team not notice this, or do they just not care?”
Another person complained, “The casting team keeps choosing people from the same toxic groups. They think these people should be on TV.”
A third person wrote, “They do all these background checks and still pick someone who’s friends with Aaryn. I can’t believe it.”
On X, one person asked, “Why would they cast someone connected to one of the most racist people in Big Brother history?”
Another person said, “That was a bad idea. Casting, why?!”
Some people were less critical, with one person writing, “Until she does something wrong, we should give her a chance.”
It’s unclear how close Brooklyn and Aaryn are, but they were seen together in a photo with friends shared online since Brooklyn joined Big Brother. They also follow each other on Instagram. When Brooklyn announced on Instagram that she would be in the new season, Aaryn congratulated her.
Aaryn wrote, “You’re gonna kill it, Brooklyn,” with a red heart emoji.
On Monday, Aaryn also asked on X where she could watch the show’s livestream.
Many people were annoyed by this because they remembered that her behaviour led the network to add warnings to the feed in the first place. She posted, “When do the #BB26 live feeds start? I haven’t watched them or the show since before Season 15.”
Aaryn caused a lot of trouble during Big Brother 15 in 2013 when she used racist language.
While on the show, she upset a housemate, Candice Stewart by flipping over her mattress. When Candice told her not to do it again, Aaryn mocked Candice by speaking in a fake accent and saying, “Whatchu gon’ do gurl…whatchu gon’ do? Class girl. Where’s your class?”
As Candice got more upset, another housemate, GinaMarie Zimmerman, joined in and said, “You want the Black to come out?”
The Big Brother live feeds caught Aaryn and GinaMarie making racist and homophobic remarks about their fellow housemates.
Aaryn told Helen Kim, who is Asian-American, to “shut up, go make some rice.” GinaMarie joked that Andy wanted to punch someone to make their eyes “straight.”
They also made hurtful comments about Howard Overby and Candice Stewart, saying things like “Blacks stick together” and calling them “Black Barbie and Kens.”
After these comments, Aaryn lost her modelling job with Zephyr Talent in Texas. CBS said they do not support such offensive language and added warnings to the live feeds. The episode added an advisory, and the offensive language was shown again.
In her exit interview, Aaryn said, “I feel terrible about what I said and regret it. We sometimes joke around in Texas, but I never meant to be hurtful. I don’t want to come off as racist, and I’m sorry if I offended anyone.”
Despite the controversy, Brooklyn is hopeful she will win Big Brother. She said in her pre-show interview, “I’m going to win because I’m strong, a bit stubborn, and I always give my best.”
Brooklyn said, “I want to make history as the first married mother to win the show. It’s the 26th season, so it’s time for a married mom to win.”
Brooklyn will compete for the top spot against celebrity chef Lisa Weintraub, video store clerk Joseph Rodriguez, former marine Cedric Hodges, and crochet business owner T-Kor Clottey.
CBS has also announced that for the first time, the cast will get to vote in a 17th houseguest.
After the premiere, Big Brother will air on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays on CBS and Paramount Plus.
Source: DailyMail