Jack Matthews has taken a lot of heat for racist comments he made while competing in the Big Brother house this summer. And he took some more of it when he sat down with host Julie Chen after being voted out of the house on Thursday’s live episode.
Just moments after being evicted, Jack sat down with Chen, who played him clips of his derogatory comments about another contestant, Kemi Fakunle. She then asked: “In recap, you called her bitch, you called her dog poop — you didn’t use the word ‘poop’ — and we just heard you say you wanted to stomp a mudhole through her chest. Watching that now, what are your thoughts?”
Matthews responded: “Okay, well, I will say that the ‘stomp the mudhole comment’ was based on something that Sam [Bledsoe] said last season when she was frustrated, and I don’t think there was any personal vendetta behind saying that. I think my statements were playful in a group of people. I do apologize for what I said, and that’s very sincere. I think Kemi was, and is, a great person. I think this game and being in 24-hour view of people and you say things and… um, I wouldn’t say I fully support the things that I said and the way that I said them. If I could take them back, I would, and I wish I could have articulated them in some other way possible. But it doesn’t take away the fact that I don’t think that Kemi is a wonderful person inside and outside of this house, absolutely.”
But Matthews had more questionable comments to answer for, and Chen then showed him the clip of him responding to another contestant talking about the “proof is in the pudding” by adding “the rice pudding” when referring to Isabella Wang, who is Asian-American. “Because Bella is Asian-American,” pointed out Chen, “and you made the pudding comment — rice pudding — some people thought that was a derogatory statement about her ethnicity. What is your response to that?”
“I appreciate you letting me be able to voice my opinion about that,” answered Matthews. “We spoke earlier in the evening. There was the slop thing going on and people were making different recipes earlier in that evening, mainly Tommy and Christy. And rice pudding was spoken about in slop pudding. And so earlier in that evening, rice and slop pudding were going, around so Tommy bringing it up in that situation made me say it there. It had nothing — absolutely nothing — to do with her ethnicity whatsoever. I appreciate that I get to voice me saying that.”
When we asked the ousted Wang about Matthews’ “rice pudding” comment last week, she said she wanted to wait to talk with Jack herself before passing judgement. Viewers can now judge whether they believe the Jason Momoa lookalike’s explanation or not.
Related content:
Big Brother recap: It’s time for either Jack or Michie to go home
Big Brother producer reprimanded for racially insensitive interaction with Kemi
Julie Chen hosts as the houseguests battle it out.
Episode Recaps
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