'Big Brother 15' Cast: Julie Chen Says Aaryn Gries Has 'A Lot of Learning & Growing Up to Do' [VIDEO]
Big Brother host Julie Chen discussed former houseguest Aaryn Gries' racist comments in a recent interview.
Gries, who was evicted from the house on Aug. 29, was shocked by the perception of her comments as racist. Chen interviewed Gries after she was evicted and repeated back some of the racist comments Gries made in the house.
"What ended up happening was she was somewhat aware that what she did in the house was really frowned upon by the public because the live audience was heckling her," Chen explained in a recent interview with The Huffington Post. "And I thought, 'I'm surprised that she is staying composed and at least attempting to answer the questions.' That made me impressed that she wasn't just like, 'I never said that.'"
Some of the comments Gries made while in the Big Brother house included her saying she couldn't see black contestant Candice Stewart in the dark and saying that Asian contestant Helen Kim should "go make some rice."
Gries apologized for anyone who felt offended by her comments but justified herself by saying that all people in Texas talk like that. Chen told the news outlet she didn't like Gries painting all Texans as racist, but that she could not tell her that during the interview.
"I couldn't tell her all that kind of stuff, that's not the time or place. She will find out later on. But I thought she has a lot of learning to do and lot of growing up to do," Chen said. "I think when she gets out of the jury house ... she will realize. She'll watch the tapes. You can't tell me if you're a normal human being watching those tapes you'd say, 'I see nothing wrong with what I said or did.'"
Chen voiced her concern about Gries' comments on her talk show The Talk back in July and recently addressed them again on The Late Show with David Letterman.
The long-time host of Big Brother has not acknowledged other controversial comments that have been said by other houseguests this season.
The series has attached a viewer discretion label to the beginning of each episode since the racism controversy.
Big Brother 15 airs Sundays and Wednesdays at 8 p.m., and Thursdays at 9 p.m.
