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'Big Brother' Season 24: Fans call out CBS for lack of Asian representation on show

Even after casting several Black people for Season 24, fans questioned the network for its ignorance towards other communities, especially Asians

The reality television industry and other entertainment industries have a massive disparity when it comes to diversity. Fans were reminded of it once again when CBS introduced the cast of 'Big Brother' Season 24 on July 5, a day before the season premiere.

Reality television has depended on outdated and downright insulting tropes to garner and maintain popularity since its inception. This has evolved throughout time, but it appears that there is still a status quo of entities profiting on fury, drama, and powerful emotional reactions. Although the sort of rage elicited by reality television might be entertaining, it can also be damaging and disastrous to those who are the brunt of the joke. As soon as CBS revealed the lineup of 'Big Brother' Season 24, viewers took to social media to criticize the network for its lack of diversity.

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According to a 2018 Ofcom analysis, South Asians have the lowest media presence of any minority group. However, it is well known that South Asian representation on series such as 'Big Brother' and 'Love Island' is usually tokenistic. 'Big Brother', which began in 1999, has been fraught with controversy and has a reputation for encouraging stereotyped conduct among its competitors. Only a few people of color have won in the 23 standard seasons, three celebrity seasons, and one online season of 'Big Brother' in the United States. In other words, a sizable number of 'Big Brother' winners in the United States have been white.

After admitting that he is "bitter" that producers did not ask him to return in 2020, Andy Herren blasted 'Big Brother' for not casting a diverse mix of houseguests. In a statement shared on Twitter on June 27, the season 15 winner criticized the CBS reality competition series.

Following the Black Lives Matter movement, CBS made significant modifications to several of its most popular series. Former cast members, employees, members of the press, and viewers have previously attacked the network for a lack of diversity on series like 'Survivor' and 'Big Brother'. CBS's diversity strategy has been implemented to guarantee that the casts and crew of these series are more varied.

Derek Xiao, a 'Big Brother' houseguest, claimed on social media that he joined the cast last year to represent the Asian American community. He didn't feel proud of his identity as a teenager, since he didn't see individuals who looked like him on television. He wished to assist Asian American children in accepting their own identities. As much as this helps the community to be visible and feel represented, 'Big Brother' viewers are upset with the lack of Asian representation this year following the Season 24 cast release. They took to social media to express their displeasure. A fan wrote, "The asian rep this season #bb24."

Another fan tweeted, "Are we going to continue ignoring the lack of Asian representation in the Big Brother franchise? #BB24."

One fan simply shared what everyone had in their mind all along, "Hot take: cast more Asians #bb24."

A fan questioned CBS why wouldn't they cast more Asian people on the show, "Why does cbs refuse to cast asian contestants… #bb24?"

Even the non-watchers of the show felt the lack of Asian representation was too much as they wrote, "Now I don’t watch Big Brother, nor do I plan to, but I only got one question… …where the Asians at? #BB24."

Even after casting several Black people for this season, the fans questioned the network for its ignorance towards other communities. An enraged fan wrote, "I like that CBS thought that just adding black people solved their diversity problem. “Fine!!! take more black people and STFU.” Nah bro we want all the food groups. Maybe bump that BIPOC number to 75 to get it done, lol. #BB24."

Another fan wrote, "CBS really said Asian, Middle Eastern, Indian who?? #BB24."

Making fun of the fact that the show's host Julie Chen is the only Asian person this season, a fan wrote, "CBS really considers Julie to be the Asian representation of the season cuz chile what is this #BB24."

A fan mentioned all the Asian cast members over the years. Their tweet read, "This is so discouraging. Out of 23 pre-existing seasons of Big Brother (USA), theres only been 21 Asian contestants. That’s not even enough representation to have 1 Asian contestant PER SEASON. I love my girl, @JCMoonves, but we need more representation #bb24."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.