Taking a stand! Former Big Brother contestant Devin Shepherd defended houseguest JC Mounduix for using the N-word on the live feeds.
“I mean, with JC and his comments that he made in the house, I mean, there’s nothing wrong with what he said,” Shepherd, who competed on season 16 of the CBS show, told TMZ on Wednesday, July 18. “Somebody posed a question in the house and he was trying to answer the question as honest as possible and by doing that, he might have by public perception, put his foot in his mouth. But he didn’t do anything wrong at all.”
Mounduix, 28, came under fire on Tuesday, July 17, for using the slur while discussing his 4-foot-8 stature with costar Bayleigh Dayton. “I’m just a short guy. Literally, like, I even went to a doctor,” he explained. Dayton, 25, quipped back, “OK, let me ask you this: Is there a difference between a midget and a dwarf?”
The dancer replied, “‘Midget’ is like saying ‘gay’ and ‘f—got’ or, like, ’n—ga’ and ‘black.’”
Dayton, a black woman, was offended by Mounduix’s remarks. “You’re not allowed to say that,” she insisted. “Don’t do that again. That was, like, out of control.”
However, Shepherd did not see a problem with Mounduix’s controversial word choice. “What’s any different than what our president today says on a daily basis about everybody that’s not him and his family? I mean, let’s be real. What’s wrong with what JC said? He has a right to his opinion,” he said. “I’m pretty sure there’s still [Klu Klux] Klan meetings being held in the south. I mean, let’s go talk about something realistic and something more important. He’s just like any other minority or any other group. He has to defend himself at times and if people are going to misconstrue that because everyone wants to point the race finger right now, I mean, it’s ridiculous. He didn’t do anything wrong at all. He’s at a disadvantage just like everybody else.”
This is not the first time the Miami native has sparked controversy on the show. Earlier this month, Big Brother fans accused Mounduix of sexual harassment after he appeared to pursue houseguests with an ice cream scooper and attempted to place it on their private parts. He told Kaycee Clark to “open [her] vagina” because “it feels good” as she declined.
He also went after Kaitlyn Herman as she relaxed under a blanket. Herman also faced backlash for recently using the N-word while quoting Drake’s song “0 to 100.”
