Big Brother contestant Isaiah ‘Zae’ Frederich used an ableist slur during the show’s live feed.
“Oh s***. I’m a f***ing [r-word],” the 23-year-old Utah native said on Tuesday, July 15, livestream, according to multiple videos shared via social media. “Damn, I shouldn’t say that word.”
Zae used the word while playing chess with Keanu Soto, who was quick to clock his fellow contestant.
“No, you shouldn’t,” Keanu, 33, responded. Zae added, “That was one of the ones I was working on not saying.”
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Keanu told Zae he was “lucky” it was “late” in the day.
“People probably don’t even have the live feed on us,” Keanu added, while yawning. “That one camera watching us is it.”
Us Weekly has reached out to CBS for comment.
As it turned out, fans were watching the livestream — and they weren’t happy about Zae’s comment.
“Zae: says r slur, ‘oh no I shouldn’t say that, that was one of the ones I was working on’ … like what tf do u mean by that???? #BB27,” one X used shared, reacting to the scandal.
Another social media user stated that Zae has “already caused some controversy” by using the word, making some wonder if he would be the houseguest that gets eliminated.
Season 27 of Big Brother kicked off on Thursday, July 10 — making it less than one week before the show experienced some sort of controversy.
“Well, that escalated quickly, Who knew reality TV could go off the rails so spectacularly?” one social media user stated. “Classic ‘Big Brother’ drama.”
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Zae is hardly the first Big Brother star to get caught using a slur on the livestream. Former contestant Luke Valentine was axed from the show in 2023 after using the n-word in conversation with fellow houseguests.
“It has been an emotional 24 hours in the Big Brother house as the houseguests learned that one of their own broke the Big Brother code of conduct and was removed from the game,” host Julie Chen Moonves said on the show after he left. “Due to violating the Big Brother code of conduct by using a racial slur, Luke has been removed from the house.”
Luke had some thoughts of his own after getting expelled from the house.
“I’m not upset at the production. Their hands were tied. They had to make a sacrifice,” he said during an August 2023 Instagram Live. “I understand why. It is upsetting. I think they made the wrong decision. I think a slap on the wrist would have been a much better thing.”
Big Brother continues on CBS tonight with a 90-minute episode starting at 8 p.m. ET. Fans can watch live streams from the house anytime on Paramount+.
