Luke Valentine Expelled From 'Big Brother 25' After Saying N-Word
Devoted fans watching the Big Brother 25 live feeds caught a moment when contestant Luke Valentine casually said the n-word in conversation, then tried to correct himself, then smiled and laughed it off.
Valentine, along with all of the other players, moved into the BB25 house on Wednesday, August 2. He introduced himself as a 30-year-old illustrator from Coral Springs, Florida. After just one week of gameplay on Big Brother, the first eviction of the season was scheduled to take place on Thursday, August 10. The current contestants on the block are Felicia Cannon and Kirsten Elwin, who happen to be two Black women.
In the early hours of Wednesday, August 9, Big Brother live feed fans shared a video on social where Valentine is shown explicitly saying the n-word at the end of a sentence. He then corrects himself to say “dude,” but his costars Cory Wurtenberger and Hisam Goueli are already staring at him in disbelief at what they just heard.
Valentine then smiles and laughs while seemingly looking at Jared Fields, who is outside of the frame but whose voice can be heard in the conversation. “I’m sorry,” Valentine tells Fields, with an awkward smile.
— (@)
“Luke violated the Big Brother code of conduct and there is zero tolerance in the house for using a racial slur,” CBS told Variety in a statement. “He has been removed from the house. His departure will be addressed in Thursday night’s show.”
Last year, on Big Brother 24, contestant Paloma Aguilar quit the show during its first week. This resulted in producers voiding the first block of the season, which meant that no additional player was sent home.
Given that Valentine was expelled from the house due to his use of a racial slur and the two people currently at risk of being evicted are Black women, it’s very possible that something similar will happen this year. This hasn’t yet been confirmed by CBS, but it’s pretty likely that BB25 will cancel this first block due to Valentine’s elimination, and it’ll serve as an even bigger example that this type of behavior is completely unacceptable and won’t be tolerated.
We are happy about the steps Big Brother has taken in recent years to be more inclusive and protect players who face micro-aggressions and/or are subjected to slurs. This was absolutely the right decision to be made.
Big Brother 25 airs Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays on CBS.
