Controversy and reality TV go hand-in-hand.
But even for a reality show, CBS’ “Big Brother” is pushing the envelope — big time.
A week after two of the show’s female houseguests were heard using racial and ethnic slurs on the show’s 24/7 Internet feed, now it’s “Big Brother” houseguest Spencer Clawson who’s in hot water.
The burly, bearded Clawson — who works in the real world for Union Pacific railroad — was heard on the Internet feed calling a houseguest “Kermit the F–” and praising Adolf Hitler as a great speaker.
And now he’s being slammed by his employer.
“The values represented by Spencer Clawson’s comments during the ‘Big Brother’ show do not at all align with Union Pacific’s values,” it said in a statement posted on its Web site.
“Mr. Clawson is on unpaid leave of absence while participating in ‘Big Brother.’ Union Pacific does not condone his comments.”
The company says it’s “acting in accordance with Collective Bargaining Agreement terms regarding Mr. Clawson” — stopping just short of saying they’re trying to can him.
This follows in the wake of comments made on the Internet feed by houseguests Aaryn Gries and Staten Islander GinaMarie Zimmerman regarding Asian-American houseguest Helen Kim and African-American houseguest Candice Stewart.
According to tmz.com, Zimmerman, a “pageant coordinator,” has since been canned by East Coast USA Pageant, Inc. — which says it’s shocked after she referred to welfare as “n—er insurance” on the show’s Web feed.
“We have never known this side of GinaMarie or have ever witnessed such acts of racism in the past,” the organization told tmz.com.
“We are actually thankful that this show let us see GinaMarie for who she truly is. We would never want her to be a role model to our future contestants. In a business where we are surrounded by beauty every day we are saddened to see something so ugly come from someone we put on a very high pedestal.”