#BB22: Fans Think Tyler Used Black Lives Matter to Further His Game
On Big Brother 22, following her HOH win, Christmas nominated Bayleigh and Da'Vonne for eviction.
But before the Veto ceremony, Tyler revealed he wanted to leave the game and save Bayleigh and Da'Vonne's game in the process.
What followed was a controversial look at how Black Lives Matter affected the house.
Spoilers below.
While we celebrated Labor Day, the Big Brother 22 All Stars cast took the term "long weekend" to a new level. The drama was at an all time high, and it involved Tyler wanting to self-evict from the house to purportedly save Bayleigh or Da'Vonne—as a reminder, Christmas put both of them on the block—invoking the Black Lives Matter movement. But there's a lot to get into, so we'll jump straight in.
Here's a recap of Week 5's early days.
As we know, in a controversial move as HOH, Christmas nominated both Bayleigh and Da'Vonne for eviction this week. Though she cited them being each other's "untouchables" as the reason for her decision, that rationale wasn't quite enough for fans. Though Da'Vonne and Bayleigh are far from the best players in the house (they have yet to win a comp, can't keep secrets, and consistently trust the wrong people) it seemed like another weak move in a disappointing season. There are still two previous winners in the house (Ian and Nicole F.) that have yet to see the block, a group of strong men who are competition beasts, and Cody and Nicole F. who were revealed last week to be secretly running the house. Basically, there were bigger fish to fry.
Not to mention the terrible optics of her nominations during a time in culture where racial equality is at the forefront. Bayleigh and Da'Vonne are the only Black women in a cast of 16 people. To nominate them side-by-side seemed incredibly tone deaf and unnecessary (re-visit the reasons in the previous paragraph). And there's also Christmas's microagression filled conversation with Nicole F. in which she stated she was "going to get shot" and "somebody is going to put a fork in my face" when referring to Bayleigh and Da'vonne's potential reactions to her nominations.
So far, variations of an all-white alliance—Cody, Nicole, Tyler, Memphis, Enzo, Christmas, Dani—have run the game, taking out three women and Kaysar, an Iraqi American. The show is doing little to overcome the racism that overshadowed season 21.
Why did Tyler want to leave the Big Brother house?
Following the nominations and Veto competition—which Christmas won—Tyler approached both Da'Vonne and Bayleigh on Sunday in an emotional conversation seen on live feeds. He confessed to them, "I don't want to be here anymore."
He went on to explain that not only did he miss his girlfriend Angela, but he was willing to ask Christmas to use the Veto on either Da'Vonne or Bayleigh so he could be re-nominated and go home instead. He explained he felt guilty and partially responsible for the two women being on the block because he had spoken behind both of their backs and sabotaged their game. But where the controversy comes in is when he appealed to Da'Vonne and Bayleigh by alluding to the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement as another reason for putting himself at risk, saying "I want to stand for something bigger," and it was "important" that the two felt they could "get a life vest" in the game.
Of course, the nominees were thankful. Bayleigh said, "For us, nobody has ever done anything for us like that. As a people, nobody cares about us. This is a big deal."
Da'Vonne added, "In this game specifically, we are the ones that always get tossed away. You are throwing us a life vest. That means a lot."
Tyler then proceeded to talk to Christmas for nearly two hours, but it was not shown on Live Feeds. Afterwards, Christmas seemed like she was willing to nominate Tyler, but told him to "sleep on it." She then formed a girls alliance with Da'Vonne, Dani, and Nicole F.
Was the Veto used on Da'Vonne or Bayleigh?
The short answer is no. Christmas kept the nominations the same. The next morning, despite telling Da'Vonne he was sure about going through with the plan and "I won't go back on that," moments later he spoke to Christmas and said he self sabotaged and made a mistake about asking her to put him up. Tyler then told her that "we can't trust either of them" when referring to Bayleigh and Da'Vonne.
Despite this, before the Veto ceremony, Tyler did not warn either of them that he changed his mind. Instead, he helped Bayleigh with her Veto speech with the pretense that he was following through with the plan. The only inkling Tyler gave her was that apparently it was against the rules for him to attempt to self-evict.
So did Tyler use Black Lives Matter to further his game?
From the outside looking in, it seems like he did, whether he intended to in the moment or not. Wanting to leave the game, though disappointing, is fair. 2020 is already a hell of a year, so the pressure to perform on a nationally televised reality show—that cuts you off from your friends and family during a pandemic—is immense. But where Tyler went wrong was inserting the Black Lives Matter movement into his reasoning and telling Bayleigh and Da'Vonne they were "standing for something greater."
If you're bold enough to publicly put your name and support behind a ongoing movement that is too relevant today—Jacob Blake, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd—then you should be bold enough to deal with the consequences that come with that. If that means breaking the rules of Big Brother and risking your rumored $40,000 stipend, so be it. If not (which is totally understandable) using such a personal issue for Bayleigh and Da'Vonne to give them hope was not a necessary move. And if it was genuine, it now seems like a flippant and performative way for Tyler to look good and relieve himself of guilt in the name of lazy activism.
And what makes matters worse? He did not warn the nominees that he wasn't going through with the plan, instead talking behind their backs yet again to Christmas. If he really wanted to see them go far in the game and stay in the house himself, too, couldn't he have found a strategic way to backdoor a bigger threat and ensure both women stayed in the house instead of returning to the side that wants them out? (Though he did say his next targets are Dani and Nicole).
Suffice it to say, his decision did not go over well with fans. At all. Oh, and his name became a Twitter trending topic on Labor Day,
In response, his girlfriend and fellow #BB20 alum Angela Rummans issued a Twitter statement.
But above the opinions presented here and by fans, the ones that truly matter are that of Da'Vonne and Bayleigh. You can see them discussing their thoughts on the situation below.
"He said 'you guys have a cause that you want to represent and I am supportive. I am an ally of the cause. I don't want to be the reason why you guys get separated,'" Bayleigh said. "This is not an issue of game. If he used that in gameplay, that's messed up."
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