Even a year after it was on the air, the 21st season of Big Brother is still proving to be very controversial. On social media, a leaked text thread involving several cast members has fans in an uproar due to racist messages. Multiple houseguests in the thread have confirmed the messages’ validity.
‘Big Brother 21’ was a controversial season due to racism
Big Brother season 21 was one that garnered a lot of controversy because of the racist comments and misogynistic remarks from several houseguests, mostly notably Jack Matthews. The season arguably received the most backlash since the infamous 15th season of the show, which featured racist remarks. It began with Jackson Michie’s almost immediate targeting and eviction of David Alexander during the first night in the house.
Matthews was mostly criticized for the way he approached and talked about fellow houseguest, Kemi Fakunle. Matthews’ Gr8ful, received major backlash through the season as a whole for their treatment of the other houseguests. The alliance included Analyse Talavera, Christie Murphy, Holly Allen, Isabella Wang, Jack Matthews, Jackson Michie, Nick Maccarone, and Tommy Bracco.
Production rarely showed these comments and interactions on the show, but views could see them on the live feeds and through spoiler Twitter accounts. One of these moments that wasn’t included was when Maccarone called Fakunle a “piece of s**t” and said he would spit on her.
The show really didn’t show one of the problematic moments until a segment in which Matthews talked down to Fakunle over a bottle.
A text thread with several houseguests from the season leak
On Saturday, a text message thread leaked via the Twitter account @GamerVev. The names that show up in the messages directly are Nick Maccarone, Jack Matthews, Kathryn Dunn, Holly Allen, and Jackson Michie. Other names haven’t been fully confirmed for all nine people in the thread, but they are believed to be the other members of Gr8ful. Jessica Milagros later confirmed that she was in the chat and Isabella Wang confirmed that she was not.
In the alleged messages, Allen says they should have a reunion at her family’s ranch and do activities like horseback riding and shooting. Maccarone says that he would be “down” and that he is “scared to shoot a gun.” He addresses Matthews, saying that he’ll come back “come and shoot something and it’ll be black” and that there would be “uproar.”
Dunn then calls Maccarone out, saying, “Wow… nick let’s just not.” Maccarone then says, “I didn’t mean on purpose I meant people would make it into that.” Despite Maccarone backing off of it, this didn’t stop Matthews from continuing it, saying, “I’ll turn the gun sideways!!! KILLSHOT.” Maccarone then called Matthews’ responses “the funniest thing I ever read.”
Here’s how Kat Dunn addressed the matter
While Big Brother fans were trying to figure out the authenticity of the messages, Dunn took to Twitter, saying that they are true and that she left the thread in July.
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In a series of now-deleted messages, Dunn said in part, “I’ve been sitting here thinking of the best way to address the group chat that was leaked on twitter today. I really don’t know the right thing to say right now, but I also don’t want to sit here in silence because silence contributes to the problem.” Dunn began to get questions from fans as to why she stayed in the chat if it was problematic.
“Also clarification because some people are asking: I left the group text at a later time due to some ongoing toxicity between me and another person,” she added. I posted that screenshot of me leaving a proof that I’m no longer a part, not to insinuate I left immediately after this convo. Just trying to be honest with you all.” She later said that she felt as if people had “shifted the blame” on to her when she was “really doing the best” she could in the situation.
Dunn later deleted all of the tweets, saying, “I deleted the tweets, not because I didn’t mean everything I said but because some people took it the wrong way.”
Jessica Milagros also spoke out
Though her name was not shown in the leaked thread, Milagros confirmed on Twitter that she was in the thread. She tweeted, “I didn’t want to go to sleep w/out saying, yes I just read the tweets, messages, DMs, comments. Yes I was in the GC & it was real. I know that action is the only remedy to complacency. I have taken action in many forms & will keep advocating for those who need better allies.”
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When fans questioned why she was in the chat, she said she didn’t “like or engage in said text” and didn’t “contribute” to the chat on a weekly basis as it is “very common to come back from work & see 300 texts.” She also confirmed that the thread no longer exists and said that most of the time, it was muted for her.
