TMZ was the first to report Houseguest GinaMarie Zimmerman was fired from her job as Pageant Coordinator because of her many racial slurs on the Big Brother live feed.
Zimmerman worked at East Coast USA Pageant, Inc. for the past five years, but after seeing the many racist comments on the Big Brother live feed, the company has decided to cut ties.
“We have never known this side of GinaMarie or have ever witnessed such acts of racism in the past,” CEO Lauren Handler said in the statement. “We are actually thankful that this show let us see Ginamarie for who she truly is as we would never want her to be a role model to our future contestants. It is unfortunate that her hateful words were able to be witnessed by so many thousands of Big Brother fans as they were rightfully so deeply offended. We are unable to contact her at this time but when she returns from the Big Brother house we will be terminating her employment for her unforgivable behavior. In a business where we are surrounded by beauty every day we are saddened to see something so ugly come from someone we put on a very high pedestal.”
Entertainment Weekly announced that fellow houseguest Aaryn Gries was also fired from her job back in reality. The modeling agency that represented Gries, Zephyr Talent, announced her termination on the company facebook page saying, ““Aaryn, season 15 cast member of Big Brother, revealed prejudices and other beliefs that we do not condone. We certainly find the statements made by Aaryn on the live Internet feed to be offensive. Any views or opinions expressed in personal commentary by Aaryn, either on any live feed from the House or during the broadcast, are hers alone and do not represent the views or opinions of Zephyr Talent. Upon much consideration, we have decided to release Aaryn from her contract with Zephyr Talent.”
Unfortunately, while in the Big Brother house, there is no contact with the outside world, meaning Gries and Zimmerman will not know of their termination until they are eliminated from the show.
CBS has yet to air the offensive comments, though they are well-viewed in the live feed.
CBS released a statement saying, “Big Brother is a reality show about watching a group of people who have no privacy 24/7 — and seeing every moment of their lives. At times, the Houseguests reveal prejudices and other beliefs that we do not condone. We certainly find the statements made by several of the Houseguests on the live Internet feed to be offensive. Any views or opinions expressed in personal commentary by a Houseguest appearing on ‘Big Brother,’ either on any live feed from the House or during the broadcast, are those of the individual(s) speaking and do not represent the views or opinions of CBS or the producers of the program.”