Entertainment

Jack Finally Responded To His Comments About Kemi & Bella On 'Big Brother' 21

Sonja Flemming/CBS

One of the most-talked about houseguests on Big Brother 21 was Jack — but it wasn't always for his game moves. Instead, Jack made some comments about Kemi and Bella on the feeds that upset some viewers earlier in the season. During Thursday's Aug. 8 episode, host Julie Chen showed Jack clips of what fans read as racist moments and allowed him the chance to respond. Jack thanked her for getting the chance to speak on things.

With regards to Kemi, one of the season's only black contestants, Jack was shown back clips of him calling her a "b*tch" and "dogsh*t," and saying that "f*cking Kemi makes me want to f*cking stomp a mud hole right through her chest." Jack responded that the mud hole comment was in reference to a quote from a houseguest last season. In that instance, Sam Bledsoe had said, "I'll be damned if I lose to Kaitlyn ... I'll stomp a mud hole in that b*tch's chest. I can't believe I said that."

In defense of that comment, Jack said, "Ok, well I will say that the stomp the muddle comment is based on something that Sam said last season … [there was no] personal vendetta behind saying that." He then apologized for what he called "playful" behavior in a group setting, saying "[I] apologize for what I said, and that's very sincere ... [Kemi] was and is a great person."

He also added that, in general he would take back things if he could. "[Big Brother is a] 24 hour view of people and you say things," Jack said. "I wouldn't say I fully support the things that I said and the way that I said them."

Chen then showed Jack a clip of some Six Shooters members talking about Bella. Tommy said, "the proof is in the pudding," with her and Jack added, "rice pudding." Many viewers thought that was a racist comment because Bella is Asian American. Jack said on Thursday that "it had nothing, absolutely nothing to do with her ethnicity." He said that the houseguests had been making "slop" pudding (a punishment food on the show) and rice pudding earlier, so his brain went there when Tommy said pudding.

Before Jack commented on the issue, the already-evicted Kemi and Bella had responded to comments made in the house about them. Upon her eviction, Bella told Entertainment Weekly that she hadn't had a chance to see the show but she was "made aware" of Jack's comment. "I think that is probably something me and Jack can talk about after this show," Bella said. "I have a lot of respect for Jack. I know that everyone in that house, we're all good people. I love everyone and this is a game and we're a lot of hotheads put into a room and we’re entertaining and it's fun."

She added that thought she would forgive him, but that "I would definitely have to discuss it with him and see what his intentions were that he said that."

As for Kemi, she tweeted upon her eviction that she was "disappointed" and "disgusted" by some of the behavior she saw.

TV Guide reported that Kelly Kahl, president of CBS Entertainment, was asked about some of the behavior on this season and said:

"I would say that we've heard [about] things on the show that we are not comfortable with hearing. We will absolutely after the season is over take a look at the show. After each season, we always go back and look and ask if there's anything else we can do better next year. That is something we will do after this season is over."

Jack is no longer in the game, but fans have had similar frustrations with things Michie said about Kemi and other women in the house, so it will be interesting to see if he's confronted about that upon his eviction as well.