Following his controversial ouster from the Big Brother house, Ovi Kabir opened up about allegations of bullying and racism hounding certain houseguests on show. He felt that he and other castmates were subject to unfair treatment because of their race.
Kemi Fakunle, David Alexander, and Ovi Kabir, who are all people of color, were eliminated from the show in a single episode. The outcome led to a firestorm of accusations against show producers, such as Big Brother 17 participant Audrey Middleton, who condemned the producers for purposefully giving the minorities in the cast a bad edit and showing the more controversial characters in a positive light. Those individuals have also come under scrutiny, including Gr8ful alliance members, Jack Mathews and Jackson Michie. Fans have suggested several examples of producers scrubbing Jack and Jackson’s image clean, withholding scenes from the broadcast where they disparaged and even threatened bodily harm against Kemi. Although Jack and Jackson were gifted with a more generous portrayal, Kemi's appearances typically emphasized incidents that depicted her as argumentative and hostile.
In a recent interview with EW, Ovi was asked about his experience on Big Brother and the troubling accounts of bullying and prejudiced behavior from others. He indicated that it was “mob mentality” that engendered the situation, adding that he made the decision to be an active bystander and speak up in one bullied housemate’s defense. Despite his act of defiance against the harassment in the house, his words failed to make an impact. After the Ovi was ostracized, his fellow housemates would either not allow him to enter rooms or ask him to leave after he entered. In light of this treatment, Ovi was asked if he thought race played a role in being selected for elimination with two other persons of color. Ovi said:
"I don’t think there was blatant racism or anything like that going on as the reason we were targeted. But subconsciously, yeah, I think some things came into play. Kemi, David, and I are three people from different backgrounds that don’t share the same commonalities as some of these other houseguests in there. So, bonding in certain ways is more difficult for us in those things. And you find whatever you can in the house to single somebody out. And so maybe our differences were the reasons why it played in some people’s heads."
Ovi expressed that he had to make light of the bullying and possible racism in order to not take it to heart. He spoke candidly about how the friendships he had made in the house had helped him through the tough time, saying, "I’m really thankful, actually, for David’s friendship and even Kemi’s friendship and those times within Camp Comeback." Whether the other contestants were being blatantly racist or just bullying due to the cliques made in the house, it made Ovi's stay as a houseguest very uncomfortable. However, in spite of the problems he faced, Ovi spoke of his love for the show, saying, "I am super grateful to be on the show. I love the game. I love it so much."
Regrettably, this is not the first time Big Brother has been beset with claims of bigotry, racism, and bullying in its cast, and the show’s producers appear to have done little to resolve these issues in the show’s 21 seasons. Their unwillingness to tackle the matter head-on, as opposed to sweeping it under the rug, suggests the unfortunate behavior will only continue.
Big Brother airs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9pm EST and Sundays at 8pm EST on CBS.
Source: EW