Big Brother season 28 housemate Kamu Kirk is facing backlash over a viral video from December where he filmed a man being arrested outside his residence while screaming for help, and during the arrest Kirk said, “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe. Bro thinks he’s George Floyd.”
Gabriel Xavier Kamuela “Kamu” Kirk, 32,
is a lightweight MMA fighter who was born in Hawaii and currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona.
The videos were originally shared back in December, but the footage recently resurfaced and has now gone viral for all the wrong reasons.
People didn’t take kindly to his jovial tone, with online critics calling him “nasty” while another said the video is “legitimately sickening.”
The video remained on Kamu’s Instagram page, where fans discovered it was posted about seven months ago showing someone getting arrested while screaming they can’t breathe before Kirk says the person “thinks he’s George Floyd.”
The backlash compounds existing criticism Kirk has already faced on the show.
After the July 19 episode saw Survivor alum Rick Devens win Head of Household, live feeds caught Kirk making remarks regarding fellow contestant Drew Campbell.
In video footage from live feeds, Kirk was shown engaging in conversation with Devens about Campbell wearing unicorn-themed pajamas, with Kirk saying, “I said, ‘Bro, miss me with the drag stuff. Miss me. I’m still an MMA guy, and I have an image to uphold.'”
Frankie Grande, brother of Ariana Grande and former Big Brother 16 contestant, saw the exchange and shared the video to X, calling the “homophobic bigots” needing to get evicted from the house.
“What the f*** is this horseshit?! Get these homophobic bigots out of the f***ing house IMMEDIATELY. Both of them,” Grande, 43, wrote via X alongside the clip of Kirk’s conversation with Devens, 42.
“Ew this conversation makes me sick to my stomach. I’m disgusted. This better be the biggest thing ever when I wake up tomorrow or I’m flipping a table,” Grande continued in subsequent posts, later clarifying his concern about homophobic behavior in general.
After Frankie’s tweets went viral, the social media guru later took to X to explain he made a “mistake” with his initial criticism.
“After leaving the show and getting sober, I’ve been nothing but an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. So seeing things like that and seeing people in the house that are definitely homophobic is just hard for me,” he said in a clip shared via X.
Houseguest Jason De Puy, who performed as Salina EsTitties on RuPaul’s Drag Race, is currently competing on the show.
Kirk’s remarks were not directed at Jason, 35, who is a professional drag queen though he omitted the fact that he previously competed on RuPaul’s Drag Race when telling fellow houseguests about his profession.
The clip spread across social media within hours, with viewers calling Kirk’s remarks anti-drag and arguing that they reinforced harmful stereotypes about masculinity and gender expression.
However, some fans said they didn’t think this constituted homophobia and think it’s OK for a man not to want to wear drag.
“Regardless, men behaving in a repulsed or shocked way when a man dresses feminine or in women’s clothing is homophobic. Period,” Grande wrote in a follow-up post.
CBS is closely monitoring Big Brother Season 28 houseguest Kamu Kirk after backlash over his comments on live feeds, with network executives watching the situation closely.
Kirk has not been removed from the competition.
In the viral moment that sparked the most recent outcry, Kirk was reacting to a household member wearing unicorn-themed pajamas as part of a drag-themed challenge.
When Devens, who is the current Head of Household, asked Kirk if “those dudes dressed in women’s clothes,” Kirk confirmed they were and revealed he was asked to participate as well, then told Devens, “I’m not doing that bro.”
“I said, ‘Bro, miss me with the drag stuff.’ Miss me,” Kirk told Devens, stating that as a professional MMA fighter he can’t see himself doing drag.
As of now, CBS has not issued a public statement regarding the criticism directed at Kirk, and the contestant remains part of the competition.