‘Big Brother’: Da’Vonne Rogers Showed Memphis Garrett Anti-Racist Shows and Movies in the ‘BB22’ Jury House
Da’Vonne Rogers is rightfully basking in her win as America’s Favorite Houseguest for Big Brother 22. In a new interview, she talks about being in the jury house and showing important programming for anti-racist education to her fellow jury members.
Memphis Garrett was accused of targeting David Alexander and using a racial slur
The week that Garrett was Head of Household was one of the most chaotic weeks of Big Brother 22. He sent the house into disarray when he nominated Nicole Anthony and David Alexander for elimination. Fans (and Alexander himself) thought it appeared as Garrett was talking down to him in the nomination speech.
There was also controversy when a lot of fans believed that Garrett said the n-word on the live feeds when speaking to Cody Calafiore and referencing Alexander.
CBS denied that the slur was used, saying, “We are aware of press reports about Big Brother fans on social media accusing a houseguest of whispering an offensive racial slur during the show’s 24/7 live feed. The producers have listened to the scene using enhanced audio. Additionally, the Network’s program practices team isolated and played back the scene several different ways using professional, studio-grade audio equipment.”
The statement continued, “After close examination, it has been determined a racial epithet was not said or uttered. Hate speech will not be tolerated, and those who violate the policy will be removed from the Big Brother House.”
Da’Vonne Rogers said that she worked to educate him while they were in the jury house
Rogers did a slew of new press interviews over the past week after she was awarded America’s Favorite Houseguest for this season. Talking with Parade, she spoke about who she spent the most time with in the jury house and the activities that she and the other jury members did once they got in the house.
The All-Star reiterated how she wanted to make a difference with her platform this season, regardless if she won or not. In doing so, she had a lot of important conversations in the house that were not only on the live feeds, but also aired during the shows on CBS. “In 2020, if you are claiming you’re ignorant of something, that’s a choice,” she explained. “So since you’re sitting at home and you’re watching, let me allow myself to educate you in some capacity. So you can’t claim ignorance anymore. Now you can have this conversation. And hopefully, we can gain some allies, and change can happen. We’ve got to get some unity on the outside. If you can understand our perspective and what we’re going through, maybe that’ll help us have some unity in the outside world. Because all this division is too much.”
When asked if these conversations continued in the jury house, Rogers said that they did, and it included showing movies and television series to houseguests, especially Garrett. One of the projects that were shown was Netflix’s When They See Us, which is about the Central Park jogger case. Another is Just Mercy, starring Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx. It is also based on a true story. Both projects have been hailed as important viewings for anti-racist education and teaching.
“Everyone was trying to detach. Some people were still playing Big Brother,” said Rogers of her fellow jury members. “Sometimes, I would turn on Netflix and let people watch When They See Us. Especially when Memphis came into the house. I said, ‘I’m d**n sure you’re going to sit down and watch some of these videos!” [Laughs.] I think he and David watched [Just] Mercy, with Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan.”
