The Challenge: MTV Apologizes To Leroy After He Reveals Racist Treatment

MTV issued out an apology to Leroy Garrett after he revealed the racist comments Camila Nakagawa said to him on The Challenge: Dirty 30. Leroy recently took to Instagram to reveal a past encounter on The Challenge that had been weighing heavily on his heart. Fans were shocked when Leroy told MTV how they ‘dropped the ball’ when it came to handling Camila’s racist behavior during season 30. Leroy recalled feeling all alone while being racially berated in front of a room of all white people who sat and watched. Now that Leroy is no longer on the show, he feels more comfortable calling out the network for their shaky response at the time. As a result, the network publicly apologized to the show alum.

While competing on Double Agents last season, Leroy announced that it would be his last time appearing on the show. The Real World Las Vegas alum had been a returning face on The Challenge alongside his girlfriend Kam Williams. While competing on Dirty 30, Leroy got into an argument with Camila after she assumed he threw a pillow at her behind her back when it was actually Johnny “Bananas” Devananzio. A drunken Camila became enraged and responded to Leroy by hurling racial epithets at him. After the racist encounter, Camila was put in a hotel for the night. The next day, host TJ Lavin came in and announced the next game without a mention of what happened. In the end, Camila won that season of the show and was invited back the following season to compete on Champs vs. Stars.

Now as Leroy settles into life after MTV, he’s speaking out on some things he’s been harboring against the network. Leroy kicked off the week by posting a 36-minute video revealing something that had been “weighing heavy on my conscience.” The post appeared to be something Leroy felt compelled to do in order to continue towards his healing and personal peace of mind. “I finally decided to speak up about my reasoning for retiring from The Challenge on MTV,” Leroy captioned the post. After sharing the video message, MTV issued out a full apology to Leroy for missing the mark four years ago. “While we sought to support the cast and address the incident on air at the time, it’s now clear we didn’t do enough,” the network said in a statement captured by People. “We have learned from this experience and are continuing to double down on our education programs for all cast and crew to ensure a safe, respectful and inclusive set free of discrimination and harassment in any form.” 

Prior to the video confessional, Leroy told fans he was leaving to focus on his barbershop business. But months later, and the truth has come out. “I finally wanted to forgive myself for not taking a stand,” Leroy continued. “I no longer live with regret or fear. This was the first step in my healing process, from what happen to me while filming the season of Dirty 30 on The Challenge.” While recalling the racist encounter with Camila in his video confessional, Leroy remembers feeling alone at that moment. He also believed that Camila’s drunken words spoke “sober thoughts” and that her message was rooted in hatred for him. Leory added that he already felt like the odd man out because of him being the only Black cast member at the time.

But it was the lack of response from production that really turned Leroy off from being on the show. “And not even necessarily the cast members, because they’re just as in shock too. But producers or security at this point.” Camila also replied to Leroy’s video expressing her regret for the situation and understanding into him ignoring her attempts to reach out to him. “I don’t condone what I did. … From the bottom of my heart, I know Leroy doesn’t care about me, and that’s fine,” she said. “It’s his right. I probably wouldn’t care about someone that did that to me too. But I always had a special place for him in my heart.” Leroy’s video testimonial comes after Ashley Mitchell was sent home from The Challenge for breaking one of the rules. While the exact rule wasn’t addressed, other cast members hinted at her saying something offensive to Josh Martinez. It’s likely that seeing Ashley get sent home for saying something rude after Camila walked away a champion in the same season she said something racist, rubbed Leroy the wrong way and he felt compelled to address it.

Source: Leroy Garret/Instagram, People