Fans say Capener is targeting Black housemates, but producers on Season 24 of the hit reality series have protected him by “hiding Kyle’s racism.” On social media, some are calling the 29-year-old “KKKyle.”
Now Capener has admitted that his actions in the house and specifically his alliances—which viewers pointed out appear to be only with the white contestants—have been “rooted in race.”
Capener made the admission to his co-stars and later spoke to fellow contestant Monte Taylor about his strategy, in scenes that were aired on the Big Brother live feed, available via Paramount+.
Taylor told him: “It hurt man, a lot, to hear that you … cause I would have accepted anything, bro. If you wanted to work with anyone but me, I would have been fine with that.
“But for it to be attached to my race, that’s the part that I have to, like, um … I don’t care about Twitter, or America, or whatever, it’s my little brother. I really got to figure out how to explain [to him], like, man this is just a unique situation.”
Taylor added that he doesn’t “hate” Capener and “completely” forgives him. “My biggest thing is, like you said, learning, trying to understand as much as you can, throughout these next few days, and who knows what will happen past that,” he said.
Capener is up for eviction this week.
Later, Taylor discussed Capener’s admission with another Black contestant, Terrance Higgins, saying: “That takes a lot of courage given the situation that he is in. I think the repercussions of that are a lot less than denying, denying, denying.”
The next day Capener told Brittany Hoopes: “Yesterday was more like a realization and sorrow and hurt.
“That’s when it was very hard for me, once I realized what I had done and the things that I had said, and that was difficult but I think it was necessary in the process moving forward.”
Although Taylor and Higgins were understanding, many Big Brother viewers were less impressed, posting scathing remarks on Twitter.
One viewer wasn’t happy with Capener’s behavior in the aftermath of his conversation with Taylor, tweeting: “For someone who got outed as a racist less than 24 hours ago, Kyle is smiling a little too much and having too good of a time for my liking. #bb24.”
Another wrote: “I am not moved a milimeter by Kyle’s tears. I really dont care. have fun at racist rehab! #BB24.”
A third viewer asked: “How is it that everyone still is targeting Taylor [Hale] even though Kyle got called out for being racist #bb24.”
Taylor Hale and Capener are both up for eviction in Week 8, with Brittany Hoopes, Monte Taylor and Michael Bruner currently planning to send Capener home.
Higgins is considering keeping him but it’s unclear which way Alyssa Snider, who has been involved in a showmance with Capener, will vote.
Big Brother fans will need to watch on August 31 to find out if Hale or Capener will be packing their bags.
Big Brother airs on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays on CBS
