Big Brother Housemate’s Tattoo Was Oddly Blurred Out—What’s Up With That?
If you’ve been watching all the season 25 shenanigans in the house, you might’ve noticed something a little odd about the episode that aired on August 20, 2023, and fans are wondering why Blue’s tattoo on Big Brother was blurred out.
Big Brother is CBS’ reality TV competition show following a group of contestants, known as “Houseguests, as they live together in a specially constructed house isolated from the outside world and compete for a $500,000 to $750,000 cash prize. The name of the series, which is based on the original Dutch reality TV show of the same name, is inspired by the character Big Brother George Orwell’s 1949 book, Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Unlike other reality TV shows, housemates on Big Brother are continually monitored throughout their time in the house by live television cameras and personal audio microphones. Viewers at home can watch the contestants 24/7 via the Big Brother live feeds, which show what’s happening in the house days before they air on TV, which means everything they say and do is captured. That’s not to say you get to see everything, however, as CBS blurred out housemate Blue Kim’s tattoo on August 20.
Why Blue’s tattoo on Big Brother was blurred
We’re not exactly sure why Blue’s tattoo on Big Brother was blurred, but Reddit has some convincing, and pretty practical, theories.
“A tattoo artist owns the copyright for the tattoo that they do, so essentially Big Brother/CBS needs permission to be able to show them on TV or they can be sued,” one observed. “I originally found this because I was wondering why Matt’s tattoo was covered up. It also mentioned that this started years back when The Hangover used Mike Tyson’s face tattoo, and the artist sued Warner Brothers.” Yes, this did happen in 2011, per the Hollywood Reporter.
Another Redditor added: “Yes, because tattoos are artwork we have to get permission to use on TV. Clearing them gets hard mainly because we have to track down the tattoo artist. Many times people show other artwork for the tattoo artist to work on that you have to find that copyright. It is a lot of work for a minimal feature so blurring ends up being easier.”
Others speculated that Blue’s ink—which depicts a woman with blood dripping from her eyes in the shape of a heart—might’ve been considered too graphic for a “family show”. “Seems like it’s just covered to prevent people from being scared/”offended.” That also explains why it’s on the feeds (and thus not bandaged up),” another Redditor theorized.
Who’s in the Big Brother 25 cast?
The Big Brother 25 cast consists of 17 contestants including Cirie Fields, who was a contestant on four Survivor seasons: Survivor: Panama; Survivor: Micronesia; Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains; and Survivor: Game Changers. She was also the winner of Traitors Season 1. See below for a full list of the Big Brother 25 cast.
- America Lopez, 27, Medical Receptionist — Brooklyn, New York
- Blue Kim, 25, Brand Strategist — New York City, New York
- Bowie Jane Ball, 45, Barrister & DJ — Los Angeles, California
- Cameron Hardin, 34, Stay-at-Home Father — Eastman, Georgia
- Cirie Fields, 53, Nurse — Walterboro, South Carolina
- Cory Wurtenberger, 21, College Student – Weston, Florida
- Felicia Cannon, 63, Real Estate Agent — Kennesaw, Georgia
- Hisam Goueli, 45, Geriatric Physician — Seattle, Washington
- Izzy Gleicher, 32, Professional Flutist — New York City, New York
- Jag Bains, 25, Truck Company Owner — Omak, Washington
- Jared Fields, 25, Exterminator — Norwalk, Connecticut
- Kirsten Elwin, 25, Molecular Biologist — Houston, Texas
- Luke Valentine, 30, Illustrator — Coral Springs, Florida
- Matthew “Matt” Klotz, 27, Deaflympics Gold Medalist — Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Mecole Hayes, 30, Political Consultant — Upper Marlboro, Maryland
- Red Utley, 37, Sales — Gatlinburg, Tennessee
- Reilly Smedly, 23, Bartender — Nashville, Tennessee
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in August 2023, host Julie Chen explained how she thinks Cirie joining Big Brother would affect the gameplay on Season 25. “I think it puts everyone back on their heels a bit. It must be unsettling and make them question what’s happening and why? Let the speculation and paranoia begin! This is Big Brother!” she said.
She also told Entertainment Weekly about what her Big Brother strategy would be if she was Cirie. “You quietly observe and don’t talk about your achievements on Survivor or the experience at all. Act like a newbie in the house because it’s a whole different ball game,” she said.
Chen also revealed to Entertainment Tonight in July 2023 that she wasn’t the first choice to be the Big Brother host. The role was originally offered to journalist Meredith Vieria who turned it down. “I wasn’t the first choice to host. It was offered and turned down by Meredith Vieira,” she said. Her husband, CBS chairman and CEO Les Moonves, confirmed to her that Vieria was the first choice. “I asked him. I said, ‘You know, I heard stories back when I was cast on Big Brother to host that you guys asked Meredith Vieira first.’ And he said it was true,” she said. “He said, ‘I knew Big Brother was going to be kind of a trashy show… So, we wanted to class it up with the host,’” she says, adding that “they offered it to her because she was a very well-respected name in the business.”
Chen explained that Vieria turned down the job of Big Brother to become the host of the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 2002. Chen, who was an anchor on CBS Morning News at the time Big Brother was looking for a host, also told Entertainment Tonight that her ties to the network helped her score the job. “So I was ‘in house,’” she said. “And when they offered me the job, they were one month away from launching the show.”
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