Brody Jenner slammed for misgendering dad Caitlyn Jenner as 'he' on 'The Hills: New Beginnings' pilot
'The Hills' which aired for six seasons on MTV from 2006 to 2010, saw its fair share of controversies, and it looks like its successor, 'The Hills: New Beginnings', will be carrying on the torch.
The reality series premiered on Monday, June 24, after nearly nine years of hiatus and saw the original cast members — Heidi Montag, Audrina Patridge, Whitney Port, Spencer Pratt, Stephanie Pratt, and Brody Jenner —reunite alongside their children and friends.
While 'The Hills' received moderately favorable reviews from critics, who recognized it as a "guilty pleasure", it was criticized for leaning towards a narrative format that is often only seen in scripted genres like soap operas.
Keeping that in mind, one conversation between Brody and his friend, Frankie Delgado, during the pilot had the internet up in arms over multiple misnomers committed by the former concerning his father, Caitlyn Jenner.
The exchange takes place over dinner when Frankie brings up the fact that Brody's wife, Kaitlynn Carter, shares the same name as his father, following which the episode cuts to an interview with Brody where he makes light of the coincidence, according to Cosmopolitan.
"My dad, he also became a woman — don't want to forget about that one!" he exclaimed. "I had been dating Kaitlynn Carter for four-and-a-half years, and my dad came out and said that he wanted to be called Caitlyn. Two Caitlyns!"
The episode then cuts back to the dinner conversation, where Brody says, "Look, man, it's a wild world we live in out here, you know?" and Frankie breaks out into fits of laughter.
While that seems to be a straightforward enough exchange, fans immediately took offense to how Brody had twice referred to Caitlyn as "he" during his interview.
Formerly Bruce Jenner, Caitlyn publicly came out as a trans woman in April 2015, going on to star in a reality series called 'I am Cait' between 2015 and 2016 as she focused on her gender transition.
In January 2017, she underwent sex reassignment surgery and since been described as the most famous openly transgender woman in the world, even going on to win Glamour magazine's 'Woman of the Year Award'.
It could be that Brody was just referring to his father pre-transition, but he appeared to be uncomfortable as he addressed the transition, and social media lashed out at the star.
"Brody Jenner remains a pile of trash + seems to really enjoy purposely misgendering Caitlyn Jenner," one tweeted, with another similarly writing, "Brody talking about Caitlyn yikes."
"Man the shade that came from Brody’s first interview towards his dad Caitlyn," wrote another user, with a fourth posting, "Brody being a tool and misgendering Caitlyn."
Neither Brody nor Caitlyn has yet publicly addressed the issue. The relationship between the two has been strained after Caitlyn skipped out on her son's wedding to her namesake. Instead, Caitlyn was in attendance at a benefit in Vienna, something Brody and his wife were not happy about.