In the last six years of watching the CBS summer hit show Big Brother that sees, now, sixteen strangers locked into a house for the summer to compete for $500,000 while having no communication with the outside world; I can only recall two people being removed from the house; the first being Dick Donato in season 13 for medical reasons and Willie Hantz for violent behavior in season 14. As fans of the show will remember, Hantz became paranoid and combative during the second week of the competition after Hantz lost the power he held as Head of Household to the player who he nominated for eviction the previous week, Frank Eudy. This all came to a head when Willie publicly called his fellow houseguests several expletives and Joe Arvin responded with “You’re the only [explicit] I see bro.” Angered, Hantz chased Arvin into the bathroom where the two commenced in a verbal altercation, only to be ended by production commanding the two separate and Hantz shoving Arvin as he stormed off. For this action, Hantz was immediately expelled from the game. When Executive Producer Allison Grodner explained the decision to pull him from the game to the rest of the housemates, she immediately started with, “As you all know, violence is not tolerated in the Big Brother House.” However, it appears that this rule was conveniently forgotten for Frank Eudy, a current house guest of season 18 and Head of Household during Hantz’s expulsion.
On July 10th’s episode of the summer show, a segment was shown on Eudy’s inappropriate behavior towards the female contestants. In the seven minutes that consisted of this segment Eudy proceeded to call one woman fat, even though she is clearly at a healthy weight. Then he moved on to call another a s*** before hitting her butt and when she protested, he responded with “Shut your damn mouth woman.” He was also a peeping tom on this woman in the shower, noting that she has, “Nice t******” The behavior he showed towards this woman has prompted a nearly universal outcry from fans for his downfall on the show, most preferably a blindside from the woman he assaulted.
However this isn’t the behavior I want to focus on for the moment, because even though watching this awful display of disrespect on my favorite television show causes bile to rise in the back of my throat, I want to instead discuss the violent behavior he has shown with another houseguest, Nicole Franzel. During his interaction with her in this segment highlighting his less than appropriate behavior, he hit her thigh with a moderate amount of force --drawing his hand back over his head-- and picking her up in the pool, toss her over his shoulder, and then throw her back into the pool all the while ignoring her protests to put her down. If we were to hold Eudy to the same standards of Hantz, he should have been pulled from the game ages ago. His behavior towards other players is considered by many to be violent and also clearly intimidating towards the female contestants, another ground for expulsion from the game as shown by season four’s Scott Weintraub, as many of the women he has harassed has stated in private diary room sessions that they are afraid to stand up to him as he holds a significant amount of power in the game. However, why then that Eudy is still a part of the game?
The answer is simple, Eudy is considered to be a golden boy of the Big Brother game. He is a competition beast as he is only one of two people to have won three Head of Households and Power of Vetoes in one season and he has already won two out of three Roadkill competitions. He’s also won fan favorite in season 14 and the $25,000 prize that comes with it. This all means he’s good for ratings, but this does not mean that his behavior should go unpunished.
Having witnessed an explosion first hand, no one can claim that Frank did not understand the consequences of these actions. His excuse for this behavior being so normal where he comes from that he does it to his mother and grandmother also fall short by a few miles. In accordance with the rules, Eudy needs to be pulled from the game, but production will not remove him because he draws in viewers. This behavior from both sides is unacceptable.
Eudy needs to leave and CBS needs to publicly condemn this type of behavior from their star player this season or face the growing backlash from America and the loss of potential viewers because this will not be blown over and forgotten as they might hope. His behavior is no joke and no one, not even a primetime television company, should ever treat it like one.
