‘Big Brother 25’ shows Matt Klotz angry at Jared Fields for singling him out in a big argument.
Big Brother 25 made history by casting its first deaf houseguest. Matt Klotz relies on reading lips to communicate with people. He lives with other houseguests in a house that is full of microphones and cameras watching their every move. Fans can watch what happens in CBS-edited episodes and the live feeds available on Paramount + and Pluto. There will be two houseguests left after a series of evictions and a jury votes for the winner of the $750,000 prize.
Matt Klotz Accuses Jared Fields of Using His Disability
Matt’s disability gave him a harder road on the show. The first week he struggled to keep up with group conversations because he reads lips. Kirsten Elwin tried to hang out with him and help him with this. She was evicted, and then Reilly Smedley help him the following week. The reality TV show also didn’t seem prepared for their first deaf houseguest. The first time he voted there was an awkward pause because he couldn’t hear host Julie Chen Moonves. Thankfully, production made some adjustments in this area to resolve this problem.
The second week surprisingly had a veto competition that relied on hearing. Matt wanted to win to protect Reilly. Live feeds were suspiciously down longer than usual after the veto. Hisam Goueli was Head of Household said he couldn’t because he felt the competition was unfair to him on the live feeds. It was a timed competition and the episode didn’t reveal Matt and America Lopez’s time, which was unusual.
The good thing is Matt is a number that almost everyone in the house wants on their side. Cirie Fields wanted to work with Matt, and he told her about his power to save someone from the block. They were the only ones who knew he kept Jag Bains safe from eviction. Jared Fields wasn’t Matt’s closest ally or target. But that relationship was in danger on September 14. Felicia Cannon told Jared she had the votes to stay, which wasn’t the original plan. He bluffed and told Cory Wurtenberger and Matt that Jag told him the plan to evict Izzy Gleicher and keep Felicia. Cory and Matt believed this at first, but they then brought in Jag.
Jag denied ever betraying them. Jared switched strategies. “Never said that to me,” he told Matt then pointed at him. “You must have misunderstood.” Cory immediately said, “No, no” and stood up. They continued to have the argument with Cirie and Bowie Jane in the room. The feeds were down for the cast to film the live eviction where Izzy went home. Matt later talked to Blue Kim about the ordeal. “I’ve caught him multiple times lying now…he took advantage of me because I have a disability, basically” he told her before the feed cut.
Jared Fields Admits to Ableist Language on Big Brother Live Feeds
This wouldn’t be the first time Jared was accused of ableism. He previously was in an argument with Cory about America because he wanted to nominate her. The conversation was intense and the feeds cut out part of it. “I don’t think she’s ‘the R-word,” Jared told Cory when the feeds returned. “I slipped up. Obviously, I was angry.” The R-word is derogatory to people with mental, social, and physical disabilities. Big Brother fans wondered if it was considered a slur and would lead to Jared’s ejection from the house. Producers never addressed the moment, and Jared stayed in the game.
Jag works with the Special Olympics and his Instagram page gave a statement. “Such language is entirely unacceptable, particularly on a prominent platform like Big Brother,” read part of the statement. “CBS Big Brother maintains a zero-tolerance policy against hate speech and have previously removed houseguests for violating their code of conduct. Although CBS has been silent about this incident, we wanted to address this issue and spread awareness. Using the R-word diminishes the dignity and humanity of individuals with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and perpetuates harmful stereotypes.”
Matt might be forever done with Jared after this argument. But it’s also possible he’ll keep his feelings about Jared hidden from him to stay off his radar and even work with him in the future. Either way, this adds to the disappointing list of what the first deaf houseguest had to overcome this season.