‘Big Brother’ Houseguest Sparks Outrage After Using Racial Slur in Live Broadcast

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Big Brother seems to be in some hot water again as the hidden camera reality competition sparks outrage over a houseguest’s use of the N-word.

In a conversation between Jared Fields, Cory Wurtenberger, and Hisam Goueli on Tuesday night, Luke Valentine began speaking and casually let the racial slur slip before quickly realizing what he’d done, as captured on the live feeds. The 30-year-old white illustrator from Florida said, “We’re in the G’s room, [N-word]!” before slapping his hand over his mouth and saying, “I’m sorry.”

Appearing shocked behind him, Cory and Hisam were speechless. In footage captured following the incident, Luke spoke directly to Jared, who is a Black houseguest, about the situation. Together they chatted about the context of the initial conversation and how the word makes white people more uncomfortable; as Jared said, “I don’t give a f**k.” But Jared did add, “Yeah, right, I should’ve made you feel uncomfortable real quick, like, ‘Whoa, bro, what did you just say?’”

The incident has raised a debate among viewers who took to social media to express their upset over Luke’s casual use of the word. As the conversation between Luke and Jared continued, Luke noted, “Well, I’m in trouble now. I’ve been in worse trouble.” Whatever that means.

Below, see some of the fan reactions as they call to have Luke removed from the game:

Big Brother, Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, CBS