‘Big Brother’ Houseguest Luke Valentine Ousted After Dropping N-Word: “Zero Tolerance For Using Racial Slur”

UPDATED with CBS statement: Big Brother houseguest Luke Valentine has been removed from the CBS reality show after dropping the N-word during a conversation with fellow cast members Tuesday night.

“Luke violated the Big Brother code of conduct and there is zero tolerance in the house for using a racial slur, CBS said in a statement. “He has been removed from the house. His departure will be addressed in Thursday night’s show.”

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Fans furiously took to social media, calling for Valentine’s ouster.

PREVIOUSLY: No stranger to controversy, Big Brother has another big one on its hands. Houseguest Luke Valentine, who is white, dropped the N-word during a conversation with Jared Fields, Cory Wurtenberger and Hisam Goueli Tuesday night. “We were in the f*cking (inaudible) room, n****,” he said before quickly catching himself and saying “I’m sorry.”

Jared, who is Black, reacted to the comment, saying sometimes the n-word makes white people more uncomfortable than Black people. “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?’”

Furious fans have taken to social media calling for his ouster. “Go ahead and replace him”, wrote one, followed by a peace sign. Another wrote: “He gotta go”. Another called out the show’s producers: “Shame on the Big Brother production team if they let the Luke incident go by without a single word said to him. Accountability is a MUST here.”

Deadline has reached out to CBS for comment.

Hosted by Julie Chen, Big Brother follows a group of people living together in a house outfitted with 94 HD cameras and 113 microphones, recording their every move 24 hours a day. Each week, someone will be voted out of the house, with the last remaining Houseguest receiving the grand prize of $750,000.

The show has been criticized in the past for racism and discrimination. In Season 15, houseguest Aaryn Gries described Asians as “squinty-eyed.” Gries also chastised an Asian American contestant, saying, “Shut up and go make some rice,” and she also made a homophobic slur against another houseguest.

Season 24 of the season made history with Taylor Hale becoming the first Black woman to win the CBS reality competition. Her win followed a season where race became an issue in the house. Contestant Kyle Capener, who earned the nickname “KKKyle” on social media, suggested forming an all-white alliance after he became suspicious of an alliance of BIPOC members that included Hale. He recalled the previous season’s alliance called “The Cookout” that was formed by a group of Black players in an effort to make assure a person of color would win. Capener was deemed racist by his houseguests and viewers and was evicted from the game shortly after.

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