“Big Brother” host Julie Chen is shooting down reports of household bullying on the Global reality series.
Season 19 of “Big Brother” raised eyebrows earlier this summer when Megan Lowder left the house early after being called a “snake” and “bully” by Josh Martinez. Lowder has since explained that her fellow houseguests triggered PTSD symptoms stemming from a sexual assault from her days in the U.S. Navy. “I was sexually assaulted and I got really bad PTSD from it. So in the house … I had a lot of guys yelling at me and attacking me and it started really affecting me and making my anxiety severe and I was starting to get physically ill. I was throwing up, I had diarrhea, I was nauseous all the time,” she told The Desert Sun.
Chen, however, insists that past seasons have featured far more offensive conduct.
“I think there are summers in the past where the behaviour has been worse,” Chen said during a Facebook Live session promoting “The Talk”. “Part of the game is that we don’t interfere with what’s happening. Anyone who we feel like is getting bullied, they don’t necessarily feel like it; they’re just living ‘Big Brother’. If they’re in the Diary Room saying ‘I can’t take it, this is abuse,’ that’s a different thing. No one has come forward and said that.”
As the newest houseguests draw increasing attention for what appears to be shocking behaviour to many viewers, Chen insists that audiences may be looking on with bias. “Sometimes when I’ve interviewed evicted houseguests about x, y, and z they’re like, ‘Oh no, we were kidding, we’re good. I’m going to be best friends with these people.’ So sometimes it’s us making a bigger deal not knowing what it’s like to be in that person’s shoes. It’s Big Brother.”
The “Big Brother” finale airs September 20 on Global.
