‘The Challenge’: Why MTV Fired Dee Nguyen

Over the years, many of the competitors on The Challenge have come and gone. But, one individual who you won’t be seeing on any future seasons is Dee Nguyen, who competed on Seasons 33, 34, and 35 of the MTV series. The Challenge announced back in June that they fired Nguyen after she shared insensitive comments in regards to the Black Lives Matter movement.

In a lengthy message on Twitter, the official account for The Challenge shared that they had “severed ties” with Nguyen as a direct result of her “offensive comments” regarding the Black Lives Matter movement. They ended their message by writing that they “strongly condemn systemic racism” and that they stand with those who are calling for justice. This matter initially began after a user on Instagram criticized Nguyen for participating in Blackout Tuesday on June 2, telling her, “Wake up! People are dying.” In response to this message, the Challenge star, who won Season 34 of the show, wrote, “People die every f—ing day. U don’t know me or what I do. I suggest you wake the f— up and get off social media.” She later wrote on Twitter (in a tweet that has since been deleted), “IDK why some of you think I’m anti-BLM. I’ve been saying that since the day I lost my virginity.”

Bayleigh Dayton, who appeared alongside Nguyen on Season 35 of The Challenge, took to Twitter to speak out against her cast mate’s insensitive remarks. She wrote, alongside screenshots of Nguyen’s aforementioned social media comments, “THIS IS NOT HOW YOU SUPPORT BLM. I’m disgusted and disappointed. THIS IS NOT A TREND. THIS IS LIFE OR DEATH FOR US. Posting for clout about the death of black people? Shame on you @deenguyenMTV.” While Nguyen initially pushed back against Dayton’s concerns, she then announced that she would be taking a break from social media and subsequently issued an apology for her comments.

“The last 24hrs have made me realised what is important and that is forgiveness,” Nguyen wrote on Instagram. “I would like to offer my sincerest apology to my colleagues to whom I have hurt directly and indirectly due to my insensitive remarks. Let me be clear I am a POC that cares about BLM. I believe in this movement and I’m stepping away from social media to focus on my wellbeing and mental health. This is not a goodbye, it’s a I will see you again.” Disclosure: PopCulture is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of ViacomCBS.