16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
‘Big Brother' 27 Contestant Zae Was Caught Using an Ableist Slur
Well, that didn't take long. Less than a week into Big Brother season 27 and already a Houseguest has been caught using a slur. Late Tuesday night, fans saw Isaiah 'Zae' Frederich use an ableist slur on the live feed while playing chess with Keanu Soto. And while this may seem like it should be a rare occurrence, reality TV fans know that when it comes to Big Brother, this kind of scandal is almost a guarantee.
As previously mentioned, Zae used the slur during a game of chess, saying 'Oh, shit, I'm a fucking [R-word].' He then corrected himself saying, 'Damn, I shouldn't say that word.' Keanu responded, 'No, you shouldn't.'
The eyebrow-raising conversation continued. 'That was one of the ones I was working on not saying for this,' Zae admitted, suggesting that there are other slurs or offensive words he's having to keep himself from using for fear of being exposed on national television.
Keanu laughed, saying Zae was lucky it was so late in the night. 'We probably don't even have the live feed on us,' he said, yawning and looking around, as if searching for one of the 112 hidden HD cameras peppered throughout the Big Brother House. Oh, how wrong you are, Keanu.
It's unclear whether or not Zae will be reprimanded for his use of the slur. In 2023, Big Brother dismissed a contestant for using a racial slur. At the time, host Julie Chen Moonves told viewers that the contestant in question, Luke Valentine, 'broke the Big Brother code of conduct,' but the show hasn't always had a stellar record when it comes to actually removing people from the competition for offensive language—and it's unclear if the R-word is also banned in the code of conduct.
Meanwhile, Zae is already up for eviction on tomorrow night's episode, so it's possible that the powers that be at Big Brother won't have to act at all. The Houseguests are still strategizing and forming allegiances and debating who they are going to vote to evict this week, and who knows, maybe they'll vote Zae out on their own.
