‘The Challenge’: Dee Nguyen Apologizes After Being Fired From the Show
In the two most recent seasons of The Challenge, Dee Nguyen has looked like one of the show’s next stars. Now, however, her future with the show is over. The Challenge announced on Monday that it has cut ties with her after she made offensive comments on Twitter about the Black Lives Matter movement. Nguyen has since released a statement to apologize.
Dee Nguyen made offensive comments on social media
After initially posting a black square on Blackout Tuesday, Nguyen then received criticism for continuing to post photos of herself throughout that day. She later tweeted on June 6, “Idk why some of u think I’m anti BLM. I’ve been saying that since the day I lost my virginity,” according to US Weekly.
Fellow star on The Challenge, Bayleigh Dayton, then tweeted a screenshot of that comment. This was along with a screenshot of another comment where Nguyen said, “people die every f*cking day.”
“This is not how you support BLM,” Dayton tweeted. “I’m disgusted and disappointed. This is not a trend. This is life or death for us.”
Dayton also questioned Nguyen for posting “about the death of black people” for “clout.”
After going back and forth with Dayton, Nguyen later apologized via Twitter.
“I am sorry for the insensitive tweet I posted earlier. I was being defensive and not speaking from my heart. But there’s no excuse,” she tweeted, according to US Weekly. “I also want to extend an apology to Bayleigh and Swaggy — who are my castmates and deserve my respect and compassion.”
‘The Challenge’ ultimately fired Nguyen after her comments
On June 8, The Challenge announced on its official Twitter account that it had ended its relationship with Nguyen.
“As a result of Dee Nguyen’s offensive comments on the Black Lives Matter movement, we have severed ties with her,” the statement read.
Nguyen is, however, starring in the season that is currently airing. The show ultimately said it will continue to air the season “out of respect for our Challengers.” The account concluded the tweet by saying they “strongly condemn systemic racism and stand with those raising their voices against injustice.”
Additionally, the show account tweeted a link to “anti-racism resources for white people.”
Nguyen has apologized in a statement
Following Nguyen’s firing from The Challenge, she gave a statement to US Weekly on June 10.
“I want to sincerely apologize to my fellow cast members, the production crew at Bunin-Murray and the staff at MTV for my choice of words and actions in the most recent events,” Nguyen said. “What was stated wasn’t meant to be hurtful or discriminatory in any matter. It was a knee jerk of a reaction and it’s certainly not the way that I feel nor what I meant.”
She went on to say, “Having had to deal with racism my entire life, ironically through all this, there is a warm feeling I have with the fact that humans are standing together to call out unacceptable comments and behaviors that in the past were rarely called on.”
Nguyen’s friend and fellow Challenge star Wes Bergmann, who has recently been on a web series with her, also took to Twitter on June 9. Bergmann said he has been able to “educate her on her mistakes.”
The Challenge: Total Madness airs Wednesday nights on MTV.
