Will replacing Robyn Kass fix Big Brother?
By Noah Mussay
If you haven’t heard, Robyn Kass, the casting director for both Big Brother (U.S.) and Big Brother Canada, announced in a tweet on Friday that she had been offered other casting opportunities. As a result, she will not be casting Big Brother 23.
This news came as a surprise to many, although many fans have called for her resignation for years, due to an increasing frustration regarding the lack of diversity and the frequent cookie-cutter stereotypes that plague modern-day casts of Big Brother.
This announcement also came a day after Big Brother 21 winner Jackson Michie posted a video to TikTok in which he explained that before going on the show, he had been a drug addict. In addition to having recovered from surgery to remove a blood clot, Michie admitted to struggling with an addiction to Adderall, cocaine, and Xanax, which he took just two days before moving into the Big Brother House; and essentially treating the show as a three-month rehab.
To hardcore fans of the show, this revelation isn’t all that revelatory, as Michie admitted to prior drug use several times on the Big Brother Live Feeds.
However, with Robyn Kass walking away from the upcoming season of Big Brother, one day after this public admission, it left fans wondering whether or not Kass chose to walk away from the show or got let go.
Could replacing Robyn Kass fix Big Brother?
Whether or not the rumor is true, the question remains, will replacing Robyn Kass fix the problems with the lack of diversity, racist and sexist attitudes, and the frequent stereotypes found on Big Brother?
The answer, of course, is that it isn’t that simple.
Shortly, after the announcement, Big Brother 17 alum Audrey Middleton took to Twitter to remind fans that the problems associated with the show’s casting won’t disappear. Middleton wrote:
The problems are not entirely gone. Robyn is not the sole person responsible for casting. She interviews thousands of people with her team and pitches them to producers. The producers approve who they want to move on and the NETWORK execs have the final say. #BB23
— Oddrey (@OddreyM) January 22, 2021
With Kass out of the picture, Middleton says the producers [Alison Grodner and Rich Meehan] will find a new shield.
Fan-favorite and Big Brother 3 alum Danielle Reyes echoed this sentiment on Twitter while reminding fans that casting applicants don’t always show their true colors in the audition.
She would also remind fans in an earlier tweet that Robyn, who has worked as the show’s casting director since Season 2, cast her.
This is an important piece of information to keep in mind. While the show and Robyn Kass, in particular, have come under fire in recent years for casting choices that are ill-advised and have promoted racial stereotypes, I do not think that the problem can lie solely at Robyn Kass’s feet.
Are we viewing the show through rose-colored glasses?
Don’t get me wrong; in recent years, the show has embraced influencer culture, a lifestyle that portrays a squeaky-clean cookie-cutter facade that quickly falls apart when put under the microscope of 24/7 live television.
However, the show has never been the squeaky-clean reality show that we think it was. Going back and rewatching earlier seasons through the cultural lens of 2021, I can’t help but cringe at some of the racially-insensitive, sexist, and ableist comments that made it to air.
Yet, it was a different time, and I can accept that. Unfortunately, while I’ve matured with the times, Big Brother seemingly hasn’t.
With the rise of influencer culture, the casting and production team of Big Brother seems to have become more concerned with casting people based on the size of their Instagram following rather than answering for those choices by making an effort to do better.
While CBS’s new initiative to ensure that 50% of its unscripted casts be composed of BIPOC is a step in the right direction, it’s the responsibility of CBS and the production staff of all of its unscripted content to make that initiative means something.
In terms of Big Brother, it’s the responsibility of CBS, Allison Grodner, and Rich Meehan to make responsible casting choices, not just ones they can brush off by calling the show a “social experiment.”
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What do you think of this news? Do you think it will bring about real change for next season of Big Brother?
All seasons of Big Brother are available to stream on CBS All Access.