Big Brother 24 made history when Taylor Hale became the first Black woman to win the flagship version of the United States game. The victory felt extra significant considering Taylor endured a rough start to the game, with fans begging production to step in while she weathered microaggressions from other Houseguests. Unfortunately, the winner continues to face such hate-fueled struggles after the season's conclusion, and shared that's why she deleted her email address from her social media accounts.
Fans were upset, though hardly surprised, when Big Brother 24’s first controversy seemed to be rooted in race issues. The franchise has been privy to various racist incidents across several seasons over the years, and has at times eaned into strife-centric situations that reflect reality outside the reality show's bubble. Which brings us to what Hale has been experiencing since the show ended, as one fan asked the BB champ about removing her email address from her accounts, soon learning that it all allegedly comes back to racially charged aggression. Here's how Hale answered:
Removed mine because people were emailing me to call me the N word. Next. https://t.co/QISHEGbJOSOctober 23, 2022
Taylor Hale received a lot of love from fans and fellow Houseguests when she pulled off the upset win over former showmance partner Monte Taylor. And yet, despite the fact that some of those Houseguests have apologized and acknowledged that their actions against her were wrong, there are viewers out there who apparently haven’t don't feel the same empathy for her after Season 24. It’s upsetting to hear Hale's claims that she was dealing with racial slurs via email, causing her to limit how people can communicate with her publicly.
The Big Brother winner definitely isn’t the only former Houseguest to deal with show-related racism after appearing on the show, and one doesn't even have to look further back than last season. There were viewers who labeled The Cookout, an all-Black alliance created with the goal of crowning the main game’s first Black winner, as racist simply for trying to break the mold. The negativity grew to the point where host Julie Chen Moonves had to directly address the accusations, as did former Season 21 Houseguest Ovi Kabir.
Season 21 of Big Brother also delivered some particularly regrettable moments for the series, as Jack Matthews and Jackson Michie were two of many Houseguests accused of making racist statements, or committing microaggressions against other Houseguests. The issues were so rampant that Michie was hit with racism accusations shortly before he was announced as the winner of the season, and after some time passed, he released a statement acknowledging his mistakes and comments made in regard to race during his season. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be the same kind of accountability where some fans are concerned, to the point where genuine fans who want to reach out to Hale with congratulations are no longer able to.
Anyone who missed out on Taylor Hale’s win can watch Big Brother Season 24 with a Paramount+ subscription. They can also watch all the previous seasons of the game, as well as other great shows worth checking out.
