Former Big Brother contestant Kyle Capener was voted out in season 24 for racial comments that suggested the white members of the house team up against everyone else.
Because he was eliminated from the show following these comments, many people are wondering if season 25’s Luke Valentine will be as well after he was caught using a racial slur on the live feed.
During Kyle’s season, he admitted to contestants Monte Taylor and Terrence Higgins that he had been subconsciously grouping together minority players, saying that he thought they were united under a similar goal to win.
Taylor and Higgins were quick to call out his prejudiced approach, and Taylor even shared how hurt he’d been by racial biases like this in the past. Though Higgins worried that voting Capener off the show may not do anything to address his underlying racial biases, Kyle was later eliminated with a 5-0 vote.
After a heartfelt conversation where his cast members encouraged him to work on his prejudice and he acknowledged the sheltered environment he grew up in, Kyle apologized. “At the time, it didn’t click in my mind. … I now realize how terrible that was, and I should have realized it from the start. I apologize to everyone watching, and everyone in the house.”
Before the conflict came to a head, there had been several conversations about Kyle’s strategy, and his now ex-girlfriend and contestant Alyssa Snider seemed to agree with his plan. Many other cast members expressed discomfort with the idea, including contestants Michael Bruner and Brittany Hoopes. “…For me, this goes beyond the game and, like, I’m not comfortable being a part of it,” said Burner.
The same sentiment seems to be driving the conversation of removing season 25 contestant Luke Valentine from the show. Many predict that Luke will get the same treatment Kyle did and are wary of watching white contestants disrespect their fellow castmates.
