Big Brother's Kaitlyn Says the N-Word on Live Feed, CBS Responds

Liam Matthews of TV Guide with Denise Petski of Deadline wrote:

Big Brother's Kaitlyn Herman did go 0-100 real quick, just not in a good way.

On Thursday night, Kaitlyn -- who is white -- said the n-word on the live feed while quoting a Drake lyric, seen here via TMZ. Her thoughtless slip was made extra-dumb by the fact that the day before CBS had warned contestants that there would be consequences for "inappropriate behavior and offensive comments" after two earlier incidents of misbehavior in the house.

Kaitlyn, who is currently the Head of Household, was sitting on a couch Tuesday night talking about her responsibilities as HOH with fellow contestants Tyler Crispen and Scottie Salton. They started speaking in references to songs by the rapper Drake, and Kaitlyn said, obviously without thinking about what she was saying, "I did go zero to 100, n----, real quick," a reference to the song "0-100."

She immediately realized her mistake and said "oops," and continued to recite the lyrics to the song, as if to say "I'm not racist, I was quoting a rapper."

Kaitlyn's mishap comes after two offensive incidents with other contestants. On Monday, Angela Rummans and Rachel Swindler made racist comments while talking about their tans, with Rachel saying "my stomach is as dark as Bay's," in reference to contestant Bayleigh Dayton, who is black, and Angela saying that her own skin tone looked "ghetto." Then on Tuesday, JC Mounduix appeared to sexually harass other contestants by pretending to put an ice cream scooper to their private parts.

The back-to-back controversies prompted CBS to issue a statement of zero tolerance for future misbehavior.

“Big Brother is a reality show about watching a group of people who have no privacy 24/7 — and capturing every unfiltered moment and conversation in their lives. At times, the houseguests reveal prejudices and exhibit behavior that we do not condone,” the statement read. “The producers have addressed two such incidents that were seen recently on the 24/7 online feed. In both cases, those involved have been warned about their inappropriate behavior and offensive comments, as well as future consequences. These events will not be part of any future Big Brother broadcast on CBS.”

This is not the first time the series has been dealt with controversial issues. In 2013, some contestants in season 15 made racist and homophobic remarks during their time on the show.

It remains to be seen what the consequences will be for Kaitlyn, but the scene will not make the broadcast version of the show.

Big Brother 20 airs Sundays and Wednesdays at 8/7c on and Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS.