With 21 seasons under its belt and a 22nd season underway, Big Brother has a long and storied history. Fans will most likely recall some of the brighter, more exciting moments in the show's past, but Big Brother is not without its blemishes as well. One of the most unforgettable moments came way back on Big Brother 2, when houseguest Justin Sebik was removed from the game. Despite the historic nature of Justin's removal, this piece of Big Brother history has met little fanfare over the years. It's time to revisit the wild series of events.
Justin is one of four houseguests to have been expelled from the BB house, and one of only three to be expelled due to violence. Justin, alongside Scott Weintraub from BB4 and Willie Hantz from BB14, was expelled for violent behavior. Scott freaked out at the sight of his ex, Amanda Craig, appearing in the house, and began throwing furniture. Willie headbutted fellow cast member Joe Arvin and was consequently removed from the game. Interestingly, Big Brother: All Stars houseguests Janelle Pierzina and Ian Terry witnessed Willie's antics on Big Brother 14. The final houseguest to be removed from the house was Chima Simone on BB11. Chima did not enact any violence. Rather, she refused to wear her microphone or record sessions in the diary room. Her unwillingness to cooperate with these essential aspects of the show led to her removal.
Even as other houseguests were expelled in future seasons, Justin's expulsion in BB2 remains the most bizarre. He was known throughout the season as a bit of a loose cannon, often threatening violence towards the other men in the house or defacing property around the house. Ultimately, however, the final straw came during a drunken interaction with fellow houseguest Krista Stegall. The two of them were making out in the kitchen when Justin decided to pretend to bash Krista over the head with a shovel. He quickly put the shovel away, but then retrieved a knife and held it to Krista's throat. He posed a hypothetical in which he slit her throat and killed her, and continued to hold the knife to her throat as the pair continued making out. Krista was mostly unfazed by the knife, but Justin was still called into the diary room and consequently kicked off the show.
Big Brother is mostly lenient in governing the cast. Houseguests may behave however they'd like, but violence clearly crosses a threshold of what is acceptable and what is not. While very few houseguests have demonstrated similar behavior to Justin's, there have been scenarios in which fans wanted players removed from the game. It poses a difficult dilemma for producers of Big Brother. How exactly do they define violence? Is an understanding of violence as purely physical too limiting, particularly as verbal attacks and racial prejudices have run rampant in the house in recent years? Justin established a precedent in which physical violence is clearly inappropriate, and surely CBS does not want to get overly involved in who can and cannot remain in the game, but the question remains as to whether or not the criteria for remaining in the game is sufficient for today's climate.
Hypermasculinity has manifested in the Big Brother house in a number of ways over the years, but there's never quite been a situation like the one with Justin. Fans and producers certainly hope things stay that way for a long, long time.