Nehemiah Clark defended a former member cast member that The Challenge fired from the show after “offensive remarks.”
Over the years of MTV’s competition series, viewers have seen production companies and networks cut ties with several returning cast members due to incidents on or off the show.
Among them was Dee Nguyen, who debuted on The Challenge: War of the Worlds, following her Geordie Shore appearance.
Dee rose to fame as a cast member when she returned for War of the Worlds 2 and was among the final winners for Team UK with Rogan O’Connor, Jordan Wiseley, and Chris “CT” Tamburello.
She returned to appear in Total Madness and made headlines with controversial social media remarks about the Black Lives Matter movement, ultimately leading to her firing.
While they were never castmates, Nehemiah recently opened up about meeting Dee and shared his thoughts on what happened with her, calling it “extremely unfair.”
Nehemiah addresses MTV’s ‘extremely unfair’ firing
During his appearance on Zach Nichols Podcast, Zach’s co-host, Pierre Bacall, asked Nehemiah Clark if he dated former Challenger Dee.
According to Nehemiah, he never dated Dee, but he met her during “the pandemic” as he was in Kansas City and sharing a house with her due to their mutual friendship with Wes Bergmann. Dee was Wes’s partner during War of the Worlds and seemed like an ally in other seasons.
“We definitely hooked up,” Nehemiah admitted, revealing he and Dee were in “close quarters” at the home they shared, and she was “working out in a bikini.”
“She is a beautiful girl. She has a beautiful accent, and she’s so cool,” he told them.
According to Nehemiah, Dee got “the worst end of the stick that she could’ve got” regarding her situation with MTV.
“I think it was extremely unfair. I think that they were trying to save face, and they used someone to do that,” he told the podcast hosts.
The former Real World star also revealed that they were “sitting in a house just getting faded day and night,” which may have affected Dee’s situation.
He agreed with Zach that Dee’s social media remarks were “ignorant” but that she wasn’t someone from or living in America who realized what was happening in the country then.
“She was an immigrant herself who has never displayed any racial activity toward minority characters on the show,” Nehemiah said, adding, “There are people who have. Use them as your example.”
Fans of The Challenge have previously called out the show for firing Dee but not other cast members for their behavior or remarks.
The Challenge cut ties with Dee for her ‘offensive comments’
As mentioned, Dee’s final season was The Challenge: Total Madness, and she survived relatively deep into that season.
During the season, she won eliminations against castmates Ashley Mitchell and Mattie Breaux, who also have had some issues during their Challenge careers.
Dee made it to Episode 15, where Jenny West eliminated her before she went on to the final and won it.
Amid that season’s episodes, MTV addressed Dee’s controversial social media remarks with a statement before episodes. In addition, production heavily edited episodes to remove her from them.
“As a result of Dee Nguyen’s offensive comments on the Black Lives Matter movement, we have severed ties with her. Out of respect for our Challengers, we’ll air our season as planned. We strongly condemn systemic racism and stand with those raising their voices against injustice,” a statement from The Challenge said.
As of this writing, Paramount+ has most of The Challenge seasons from 10 to 39 available on-demand.
However, Seasons 33, 34, and 35 are unavailable on the platform. Dee and another controversial cast member, Stephen Bear, appeared in all three seasons.
Dee’s The Challenge castmate tried to help her after her firing
In 2020, People reported that Wes had allowed Dee to stay at his home but kicked her out amid her “offensive remarks.”
However, Wes also said he attempted to educate her more on “systemic racism” and also assisted her in finding help and a place to stay.
Dee issued a since-deleted apology on X, formerly known as Twitter, for her offensive remarks. She later revealed she would take a break from social media.
“I believe in this movement and I’m stepping away from social media to focus on my wellbeing and mental health,” Dee said before briefly leaving social media, adding, “This is not a goodbye, it’s a I will see you again.”
She’s since returned to social media, but not to MTV’s competition series, as The Challenge appears to stand by their original decision.
The Challenge: Battle of the Eras airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.
Episodes of The Challenge are now streaming on Paramount+. Try it FREE!
The link above is an affiliate link. This means that for any qualifying purchase you make, we may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.