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Big Brother Season 28 housemate Kamu Kirk struck up social media outrage this week after a video resurfaced in which he appeared to make a joke referencing the death of George Floyd.
The 32-year-old reality contestant and MMA fighter (full name: Gabriel Xavier Kamuela Kirk) posted a video to Instagram in December in which he recorded himself mocking a person – whose face was not pictured – as they were being arrested outside his residence.
In response to the video and Kirk's George Floyd joke, Big Brother fans took to social media to express their outrage and to call for Kirk to be evicted.
The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for CBS Entertainment and Kirk for comment but did not hear back.
In the video, which remains in Kirk's Instagram highlights as of Thursday night, the person could be heard screaming 'I can't breathe!' as police officers struggled to get them into a vehicle.
Kirk, who filmed himself as he walked away, chuckled and noted that other bystanders appeared to be cheering on the arrest, then grinned as he narrated: 'He's saying, "I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe.'
Big Brother Season 28 housemate Kamu Kirk (center top) struck up social media outrage this week after a video resurfaced in which he appeared to make a joke referencing the death of George Floyd; Kirk is pictured on Big Brother on July 9
The 32-year-old MMA fighter posted a video in which he mocked a person being arrested over their screams of 'I can't breathe.' Kirk chuckled and smiled before adding, 'Bro thinks he’s George Floyd'
The comments referenced the dying words of George Floyd, who was killed by police officer Derek Chauvin after he knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly 10 minutes (pictured)
'Bro thinks he’s George Floyd,' Kirk joked, referencing the dying words of George Floyd, a Black man killed at 46 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May 2020 by police officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly ten minutes during an arrest.
'People are crazy, man. I’m going back inside,' Kirk continued in his video.
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He concluded the video by smiling and joking, 'I am gonna take that spot, though,' apparently a reference to the parking spot that the person being arrested had been in.
Chauvin and the other officers at the scene of Floyd's killing were fired the next day, and Chauvin was subsequently convicted of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
He was sentenced to 22-and-a-half years in state prison.
On X, Big Brother fans slammed Kirk, with many deeming him and his resurfaced video to be 'racist,' while others called for him to be removed from the Big Brother house immediately.
'@CBSBigBrother remove Kamu from the big brother house,' one account urged.
Another user urged their followers to tag TMZ, which had published a copy of Kirk's video.
Kirk laughed as bystanders cheered on the arrest in his video and insinuated that he planned to take the arrested person's parking spot
Chauvin (pictured in his May 2020 mugshot) was fired the day after killing Floyd, and he was subsequently convicted of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin was sentenced to 22-and-a-half years in state prison
On X, Big Brother fans slammed Kirk, with many deeming him and his resurfaced video to be 'racist,' while others called for him to be removed from the Big Brother house immediately
'This man is currently playing big brother, and media backlash is the only way where production would punish Kamu,' they added.
Another poster wrote, 'I better see "kamu has been removed from the big brother house" on social media ASAP.'
Several fans complained about the quality of season 28 of Big Brother, which they said had gotten off to a poor start, in part because of Kirk's presence.
'This season of big brother is such dogs***. Kamu is a bigoted piece of literal garbage,' seethed one fan.
'This show just isn't starting out good!' added another viewer who was disappointed to see that Jason De Puy, who has previously competed on RuPauls's Drag Race and RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, had been voted out of the house at Kirk's urging on the latest episode.
Other fans wondered how CBS could have allowed Kirk on the series without thoroughly analyzing his social media posts, but one viewer theorized that controversial posts might have made Kirk a more attractive housemate.
'People shocked Kamu was cast for Big Brother after his controversial IG posts. The casting team probably recruited him b/c of that!' they speculated.
In response to the controversy over Kirk's George Floyd joke, fans searched through his social media accounts and identified posts in which he liked posts in which the original posters identified themselves as Christian nationalists who yearned for the US to be transformed into a Christian-ruled country.
One Big Brother fan theorized that controversy surrounding Kirk may made him an attractive housemate
Several fans complained about the quality of season 28 of Big Brother, which they said had gotten off to a poor start, in part because of Kirk's presence
In response to a video of Kirk's anti-drag comments referencing fellow housemate – and drag queen – Jason De Puy, Ariana Grande's half-brother Frankie Grande called for Kirk to be removed from the Big Brother house 'immediately'
Grande later reposted Kirk's George Floyd–referencing video
In a follow-up post, he shared Kirk's photo of the US Capitol and added, 'Evict Kamu. Skip tonight's live eviction.'
Other screenshots appeared to show Kirk liking right-wing posts that were critical of Islam and Muslims.
Several Big Brother fans reposted a photo of the US Capitol building Kirk had shared in his Instagram highlights that they interpreted as support for the pro-Trump insurrection in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021.
Kirk had captioned the photo, 'Who's storming with me?'
The MMA fighter previously elicited ire from some fans in response to Wednesday's episode, in which he referred on camera to De Puy as a 'zesty bestie,' a term that some people interpret as being homophobic.
He made the remark after making anti-drag comments about De Puy on Big Brother live feeds earlier this month.
'I said, "Bro, miss me with the drag stuff,”' Kirk said while chatting with Survivor alumnus Rick Devens about an earlier scene in which De Puy and fellow housemate Drew Campbell dressed in women's clothing. 'Miss me. I’m still an MMA guy, and I have an image to uphold.'
Frankie Grande – the older half-brother to Ariana Grande and an openly gay singer and actor who previously appeared on Big Brother – blasted Kirk on X over the conversation.
'Um. What the f*** is this horses***?! Get these homophobic bigots out of the f***ing house IMMEDIATELY. Both of them,' he wrote. 'Ew this conversation makes me sick to my stomach. I'm disgusted. This better be the biggest thing ever when I wake up tomorrow or I'm flipping a table... f***. Ew. Gross.
Grande later reposted Kirk's George Floyd–referencing video and wrote, 'You guys. Enough. How is this monster still in the house. WHAT THE F***?!'
In a follow-up post, he shared Kirk's photo of the US Capitol and added, 'Evict Kamu. Skip tonight's live eviction.'