MTV The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons
In November 2021, longtime “Challenge” star Leroy Garrett opened up about the racism he said he experienced on the MTV show and specifically about an incident involving another competitor, Camila Nakagawa. He spoke about the aftermath of the incident and said producers didn’t do enough and continued to support Camila and give her a platform afterward:
The fact that this girl went on a whole racist rant and was violent towards me, you guys allow her to stay on the show … and she won, and she won all the money.
So you basically rewarded her for being racist and being violent, that makes no sense, I’ve seen people get sent home for less. So what is it about her or what is it about me that made you not care about what happened to me?
After Leroy shared his story, the network issued an apology, writing in part, “MTV and Bunim/Murray were saddened by Leroy’s recount of his experience on The Challenge in 2017. We apologize to Leroy, a beloved member of our family.”
Recently, another former “Challenge” competitor, Brandon Nelson, spoke about his own experience with racist comments Camila made toward him on “Cutthroat,” which was her first season on “The Challenge.”
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Brandon Spoke About His Own Experience With Camila During a Discussion on Instagram Live
Brandon joined the MTV family on “The Challenge: Fresh Meat II,” when he was drafted by Katelynn Cusanelli. He returned for four more seasons after that, “Cutthroat,” “Rivals,” “Battle of the Seasons” and “Free Agents,” but didn’t make a final during his time on the show. In 2021, he was cast as an alternate for “All Stars 2.”
Brandon recently appeared on Talik Monroe’s series “Mental Health Check-In” on Instagram Live, where he spoke about mental health as well as his time on “The Challenge.” During the chat, just under an hour into the conversation, he was asked about Leroy’s recent comments regarding what happened on “XXX: Dirty 30.” He said he and Leroy are close and talk to each other every few weeks.
“Here’s the thing, I went through it first on ‘Cutthroat,'” Brandon revealed, “it just didn’t get aired.” He explained that Camila called him the n-word on “Cutthroat,” that it was online and everyone discussed it. “Cutthroat” was Camila’s first season on “The Challenge.” Brandon said Camila later played it off like it wasn’t a big deal and they were taking it the wrong way, adding, “ask Chet [Cannon] cause Chet had my back.”
He said the producers spoke with him after the incident, “they were like, ‘you straight’, I’m like, ‘yeah, whatever,'” he said, with a tone that he made it seem like he was unhappy about it. He explained on the Live that it was just his second season on the show, and added, “I’m from Arkansas, so I’ve been through way worse when it comes to s*** like that.”
Brandon Said There Were 2 Incidents on Cutthroat, Including 1 That Got Aired
Brandon said there were two incidents involving Camila on “Cutthroat,” telling Talik, “It happened twice on that season, cause when she picked me, she’s like, ‘okay, let’s add some color to the team, I pick Brandon.'” He said you could tell from his reaction during the moment that he was caught off guard by it. The moment in question happened early in the first episode when Camila was one of the team captains and was picking her team.
“I was just like ‘what the f***’ but then later on in the season, she did say [the n-word], they just didn’t air it,” he added. “But she did say it. So then when it happened with Leroy, he called me and talked to me about it before it even aired… we just kind of talked about it.” Brandon explained that because there are a few months between filming and the show airing, it goes away and then “you open that wound back up.”
Brandon said he and Leroy talked about what happened to Leroy and he decided he had to speak up and try to get the network to make changes. Brandon said he told Leroy, “I got your back.”
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