Big Brother 15 cast member Aaryn Gries has lost another modeling gig over racist and homophobic comments made on the 2013 Big Brother Live Feeds. Aaryn was previously fired by her modeling agency in Texas, Zephyr Talent, over insensitive and offensive comments about the African-American, Asian-American and gay HouseGuests competing with her on Big Brother 15.
In the two short weeks Aaryn Elisabeth Gries has been in the Big Brother 15 cast, she has already gone from being ‘America’s sweetheart’ competitor to perhaps the most hated contestant in the game for many viewers. This is all due to her seeming inability to keep herself from using racist and homophobic slurs against her fellow Big Brother 2013 HouseGuests. You can catch some of them in our previous piece about Aaryn losing her modeling agency contract here.
Although none of this content seen on the Big Brother Live Feeds has been shown on the CBS Big Brother 15 prime time show, it didn’t take long for the racism, homophobia and misogyny from this season’s contestants to make major headlines. Although Aaryn may not have said the worst things so far, she has perhaps been the most frequent spewer of anti-gay and racist crap in the house. This has pretty much made her the poster girl of racism and homophobia this season, which has resulted in some serious real world consequences.
Aaryn’s name been splashed all over the national news in connection with various offensive statements about African-Americans, Asian-Americans and gays. This already led to her modeling agency in Texas deciding to dump her for good. And now she’s lost out on the perks of another modeling gig because of her actions inside the Big Brother 15 house.
Ann Lauren, Editor-in-Chief of Bella Petite Magazine, issued a public letter this week saying that the publication would no longer use Aaryn in any promotions of the Bella Petite brand. Aaryn was one of the winners of the last Bella Petite Model Search, which made her a spokesmodel for the magazine. After the controversy surrounding her remarks on Big Brother 2013 and unhappy letters to the editor from the publication’s readers, the magazine has now revoked that status.
“Like many of you, I was surprised and disappointed to read about the recent insenstive comments from Ms. Gries on Big Brother,” Lauren said. “As a result, I have determined that Ms. Gries is no longer a positive representation of Bella Petite’s brand and Bella Petite will not be featuring her in any promotions related to the model search in accordance with the rules of our model search.”
While Lauren stated that she appreciated “Ms. Gries right to express herself,” she does not feel “her involvement in any of our model search promotions going forward would be appropriate given our core principles and values at Bella Petite Magazine.”
Our freedom of speech is a sacred right, but along with that right also comes the consequences of exercising it. Do you think the reaction to Aaryn’s commentary on the show has been overblown? Or are these companies making the right move in not wanting her to represent their brands after what she’s said on the Big Brother Live Feeds?
