Julie Chen Moonves.Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty
Big BrotherhostJulie Chen Moonvesis looking forward to having a more racially diverse cast on the upcoming season of the competition series.
Ahead of the season 23 premiere on Wednesday, Chen Moonves toldEntertainment Weeklythat she’s “excited” about the current cast — the first since CBS pledged that future casts of their reality shows would contain at least 50 percent Black, indigenous and people of color.
“In summers past, we’ve seen some people who are used to their bubble, where their world outside of theBig Brotherhouse is not very diverse, and then they behave in a way that is unacceptable,” Chen Moonves told the outlet.
CBS first announced the diversity pledge in November, noting that it would apply to all reality series for the 2021-2022 season, includingSurvivorandLove Island,in addition toBig Brother.
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“As we strive to improve all of these creative aspects, the commitments announced today are important first steps in sourcing new voices to create content and further expanding the diversity in our unscripted programming, as well as on our network,” he added.
Host Julie Chen Moonves.Monty Brinton/CBS
In the months prior — amid the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that followed themurder of George Floyd— cast members of color from reality competition shows likeBig BrotherandSurvivorspoke outabout how much harder it could be for them to succeed, especially because white players tend to form alliances with other white people.
“There’s either unconscious bias or affinity bias — you naturally bond with someone that you think has the same background as you or something in common. Even if it’s like, ‘Hey, your name is Julie too?’ You know? Something as silly as that,” Chen Moonves toldEW. “You might have nothing in common other than that name. But yeah, it will be interesting to see how that plays out. I’m excited about it.”
“We’ve never shied away from addressing any racial issue that comes out,” she later added. “We air it, and then when the person ends up leaving the house, they get questioned on it. And for better or for worse, that person gets judged and tried on the internet. And the hope is that people will own it, learn from it, and move on from it. And everyone can move on from it. If someone truly changes and apologizes, who are any of us to judge?”
Season 23 ofBig Brotherpremieres Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+. Beginning Sunday, July 11, it will air Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m.
source: people.com
