Luke Valentine has been removed from his role as a houseguest on the reality TV series Big Brother. He was removed after using a racial slur while speaking with fellow cast members.
As shared via Deadline, in addition to backlash from viewers, CBS released a statement that “there is zero tolerance” for racial slurs. They plan to address his departure in the upcoming show Thursday night.
Here’s the full statement:
“Luke violated the Big Brother code of conduct and there is zero tolerance in the house for using a racial slur, CBS began. “He has been removed from the house. His departure will be addressed in Thursday night’s show.”
Luke Valentine was in the process of speaking with Jared Fields, Cory Wurtenberger, and Hisam Goueli when he let the n-word slip. Before saying “I’m sorry,” he was recorded as having said:
“We were in the f*cking (inaudible) room, n****.”
— v (@ViralMaterialz) August 9, 2023
Though Valentine is white, Jared Fields is black, and responded with the following comment:
“I don’t give a f*ck,” he said. “Yeah, right, I should’ve made you feel uncomfortable real quick, like, ‘Whoa, bro, what you just say?’”
Viewers shared the following tweets in response to the use of the racial slur:
looks like the type who would use that word
— will / Eras Tour Glendale 3/18 | Gillette 5/21 (@atw10mvftvtv) August 9, 2023
How’d he even get on the show in the first place😭
— IcyVert (@IcyVert) August 9, 2023
i always got the ick from him
— ᴀʟᴇᴄ (@notbvtt) August 9, 2023
— Joey (@joey_hutch) August 9, 2023
Good 👍🏻. We don’t tolerate this behavior
— luis (@luisvillagrann) August 9, 2023
It’s clear that many viewers wanted to have Valentine removed from his spot in the series. CBS was quick with taking action, and it’s clear that they don’t take use of such words lightly. Hopefully the series, hosted by Julie Chen, will otherwise continue smoothly. On the series, a houseguest is removed each week, with the last remaining houseguest earning a $750,000 grand prize.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates as we have them. Of course, this is far from the first time that Big Brother has featured houseguests using racial slurs. There have been several incidents in the past where houseguests slipped up and stated something they shouldn’t have.