Survivor David vs. Goliath: Castaway’s racist comments unearthed by TMZ

TMZ is suddenly very invested in the future of Survivor: David vs. Goliath, as now they’re digging up alleged racist tweets of Jessica Peet from her teens.

One of the least agreeable parts about Survivor cast leaks is that scarily hardcore fans on social media will begin to enter private investigation mode and dig up any and all dirt from the past. Jessica Peet is one of the alleged players of Survivor: David vs. Goliath and she has already produced noticeable controversy for tweets where she used the N-word.

TMZ has reported screenshots of a teenaged Jessica repeatedly using the derogatory word of “n—a” between 2013 and 2014, including one use that claims “n—a isn’t a cuss word!” The Hollywood Reporter followed up with their own report, stating that CBS declined to comment.

In both articles, Jessica Peet has apologized for her behavior, although she also deflected from the severity of her words. In TMZ, Jessica said she was “young and dumb,” while going into further detail with THR.

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“In response to the tweets you are referencing, I want to apologize for what I posted as a 14-year-old teenager,” Jessica said. “In no way did I mean it in a derogatory nor racial way. I do hope people are willing to forgive, and understand I was immature and I’ve done a lot of growing up since then.”

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I’m more than willing to give Jessica the benefit of the doubt on the merit of maturing in the five years since making these comments. Any number of us would like to take back disagreeable comments in retrospect as we move on in age.

However, to claim that the use of the N-word in such a fashion was “in no way” meant in a “derogatory nor racial way” undermines the casual use of such terms. Survivor is a social experiment that brings people from all walks of life together for spirited competition, including one season that started out with the division of races.

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The use of hateful words in a non-hateful manner still perpetuates the use of unacceptable language from someone not part of that community. Though she has refrained from such usage since 14-16 years of age, by not understanding that the intention of the usage is not 100% paramount to those outside her social circle shows that there’s still more work to be done.