Big Brother 25 contestant Luke Valentine was shown using a racial slur on Thursday’s episode of the CBS reality show and was removed from the game.
Luke, 30, an illustrator from Coral Springs, Florida, was competing for the $750,000 grand prize, but was expelled on day eight after using a racial slur on Wednesday during a conversation with fellow contestants Cory Wurtenberger, 21, a college student from Weston, Florida; Hisam Goueli, 45, a geriatric physician from Seattle and Jared Fields, 25, an exterminator from Norwalk, Connecticut.
Show host Julie Chen Moonves, 53, about 15 minutes into the one-hour live show first addressed the controversy after returning from a commercial break.
‘Welcome back to Big Brother. It’s been an emotional 24 hours in the Big Brother house as the house guests learned that one of their own broke the Big Brother code of conduct and was removed from the game,’ Julie said.
The show then resumed with Kirsten Elwin, 25, a molecular biologist from Houston, coping with being nominated for eviction.
Code violation: Big Brother 25 contestant Luke Valentine was shown using a racial slur on Thursday’s episode of the CBS reality show and was removed from the game
She was consoled by Luke in the billiards room who said she was in a ‘nightmare’ situation and suggested she try to remain relaxed.
Jared and Cory, meanwhile, were talking about Kirsten’s sad situation in a bedroom when Luke joined in on their conversation to agree with them.
Luke was addressing Cory, who is white, when he casually dropped the n-word at the end of his sentence.
He tried to correct himself to say ‘dude’ instead and then attempted to laugh it off.
‘I’m sorry,’ Luke said to Jared, who is black.
‘You’re off the f***ing ledge,’ Jared told him.
Cory told Luke that he should go to bed and he agreed before Cory and Hisam left the room.
Jared in a confessional shook his head.
Racial slur: Jared in a confessional shook his head after the racial slur was uttered in his presence
Live show: Show host Julie Chen Moonves, 53, about 15 minutes into the one-hour live show first addressed the controversy after returning from a commercial break
Eviction nominee: Kirsten Elwin, 25, a molecular biologist from Houston, was coping with being nominated for eviction and Luke offered her advice and support
Casually dropped: Luke was addressing Cory, who is white, when he casually dropped the n-word at the end of his sentence
‘Mine non-reaction in the moment being the only Black male in this house. I don’t know what to say. Anything I say or do can came across wrong or aggressive,’ Jared said.
‘It wasn’t what you thought I was going to say, I was going to call him a narwhal,’ Luke told Jared who stared up at the ceiling.
‘I don’t give a f***,’ Jared responded.
Luke laughed that Cory seemed more upset and said, ‘He got more mad about that than you, a little slip of the tongue.’
‘I don’t give a f***, bro. I should’ve made you feel more uncomfortable, like ”yo bro what did you just say?”,’ Jared said.
‘I should have been lying face down on the floor and you standing over me to make him feel better,’ Luke said.
Jared seemed to take it in stride and told Luke, ‘They just don’t know how to handle and that’s so funny to me. In situations like that that should be uncomfortable for a black man, white people get more uncomfortable.’
Luke joked that Cory was probably telling everybody what he said.
Laughing off: He tried to correct himself to say ‘dude’ instead and then Luke attempted to laugh it off
Muted response: ‘I don’t give a f***, bro. I should’ve made you feel more uncomfortable, like ”yo bro what did you just say?”,’ Jared said
‘Well, I’m in trouble now,’ Luke said.
The next morning Luke was called into the downstairs diary room.
‘Oh,’ he said upon entering the diary room as the door closed behind him.
The house guests were then summoned by the head of household Reilly Smedley, 24, a bartender from Nashville.
‘House guests, due to violating the Big Brother code of conduct by using a racial slur, Luke has been removed from the house and will no longer be participating in the Big Brother game. The game goes on and the live vote and eviction will continue as scheduled,’ Reilly read.
Cory spoke up and initiated a group discussion about the incident.
‘I know there’s probably going to be a lot of confusion. I’m almost certain I know what the incident is. Do you want to talk about it as a big group?,’ Cory said. ‘I think Hisam and Jared, we were in the room and it was something to the effect of like, go to bed, then a derogatory term for a black person that was started towards me, very casual, using it between friends kind of way. And I think the reaction was like, Luke, you’ve got to go to bed, man. It was like, I walked out, did I just hear that?’
Hisam said he didn’t hear any of it.
Jared spoke up and said he respected what Cory was saying, but felt it was not fair to make it a ‘family conversation’.
‘I’ve had friends like Luke in the past. It’s really weird to try and have that conversation. That’s why I didn’t tell anybody. I don’t associate ignorance with malice,’ Jared said in a confessional.
Knew it: ‘Well, I’m in trouble now,’ Luke said
Household head: The house guests were then summoned by the head of household Reilly Smedley, 24, a bartender from Nashville
Speaking up: ‘I know there’s probably going to be a lot of confusion. I’m almost certain I know what the incident is. Do you want to talk about it as a big group?,’ Cory said. ‘I think Hisam and Jared, we were in the room and it was something to the effect of like, go to bed, then a derogatory term for a black person that was started towards me, very casual, using it between friends kind of way. And I think the reaction was like, Luke, you’ve got to go to bed, man. It was like, I walked out, did I just hear that?’
Told nobody: Jared did not tell anybody about Luke and listened as Cory talked about the incident
Past experience: ‘I’ve had friends like Luke in the past. It’s really weird to try and have that conversation. That’s why I didn’t tell anybody. I don’t associate ignorance with malice,’ Jared said in a confessional
‘Whether Luke meant it in that way or not, it was rules and regulations and we were told them clearly before walking into this house. I completely understand the decision. I also understand there’s consequences to every action you make. It’s just hard trying to help people understand where you’re coming from, especially being the only Black male in this house. With that being said, Luke, I hope for you the best, bro, and I hope it was a learning situation for you,’ Jared added.
Julie then returned live to remind viewers that the game was going to continue without Luke.
There was no further mention of Luke’s expulsion for using the racial slur.
Julie oversaw the live eviction voting in which Kirsten was unanimously voted 13-0 out of the Big Brother house.
Big Brother will return on Sunday on CBS.
