Jared Fields has sparked controversy inside the Big Brother season 25 house after he referred to fellow contestant America Lopez as the R-word.
Jared, 25, is the current Head of Household and was caught talking strategies with his allies on the live feeds on Friday, September 1. Jared was trying to express how detrimental it would be for his gameplay if his target America, 27, won the Power of Veto and kept herself safe from eviction. In his speech, fans heard him call America the R-word.
After Jared dropped the offensive slur, many Big Brother fans implored CBS via social media to remove him from the game. Production has yet to address the controversy. (The next episode airs on CBS on Sunday, September 23, at 8 p.m. ET.)
Jared later told Cory Wurtenberger — who is in a showmance with America — that he regretted the name-calling. “I don’t think she’s the R-word. I slipped up,” Jared, Survivor legend Cirie Fields’ son, said on the live feeds on Saturday, September 2, per social media recordings. “Obviously, I was angry about it [and] I’m willing to admit that.”
In the clip, Jared further alluded that he would be ready to turn on a competitor “the moment that somebody does not benefit my game.” The feeds, which air on Pluto TV, cut off shortly after Jared’s attempted explanation.
While it is not yet known if Jared will be expelled from Big Brother, production previously set a precedent earlier this season when Luke Valentine was caught saying the N-word in conversation with Cory, 21, Jared and Hisam Goueli on August 9. While Jared, the only Black man in the house, told Luke, 30, that he didn’t care about the aforementioned slur, CBS removed him from the game.
“Luke violated the BIG BROTHER code of conduct and there is zero tolerance in the house for using a racial slur,” the network and producers told Us Weekly in a statement last month. “He has been removed from the house. His departure will be addressed in Thursday night’s show.”
Luke has since returned home and has been vocal about his early dismissal. “I’m not upset at the production. Their hands were tied. They had to make a sacrifice,” he said during an Instagram Live later in August. “I understand why. It is upsetting. I think they made the wrong decision. I think a slap on the wrist would have been a much better thing.”
Hisam, 45, later told Us Weekly that he never heard Luke’s offensive remark despite being in the room. “If I had heard the word, I would’ve responded. I am not complicit in racism, in any stretch of the imagination,” Hisam exclusively told Us after his own eviction. “I was just literally trying to get to the shower. I mean, honestly, I was holding the door for Cory so that we could go to the shower. And I was wondering what was taking so long, actually.”
Big Brother airs on CBS Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
