MTV’s Johnny Bananas Denies Sending Gorilla Emoji to ‘Big Brother’ Winner Taylor Hale, Considering Legal Action Against Marketing Team: ‘I Do Not Take This Situation Lightly’

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I, Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio, renowned for my participation in over two dozen seasons of MTV’s “The Challenge,” find myself facing criticism following a post I made on X (previously known as Twitter) on February 4th.

A few days ago, I found myself in a flurry of conversations, discussing the heated rivalry between contestants from “Challenge,” “Big Brother,” “Survivor,” and other reality TV shows. On February 3rd, none other than Taylor Hale, the victor of Big Brother Season 24, brought me into the spotlight.

Earlier today at 8AM, that person with the yellow, popular fruit pinned a tweet asking for more interaction. By 3PM, it seemed like everyone delivered just what he wanted! Let me stress this – if he suddenly starts appearing on every talk show discussion, I don’t want to hear a thing about it from anyone, including Hale, who made history as the first Black woman to win CBS’s reality show. His account responded with six banana emojis and then a gorilla emoji.”

(Devenanzio’s account replied with six banana emojis followed by a gorilla emoji)

Shortly after, individuals from the realm of reality television quickly expressed their displeasure on social media, seemingly in response to what seemed like a racially insensitive tweet. However, Devenanzio claims that he was not aware of this message when speaking with EbMaster.

Step Up Social, a firm specializing in marketing and content creation, assumed control over Devenanzio’s account for the promotion of a forthcoming meme coin. “For several days, I collaborated with this company on tweets that I consented to be published from my social media platforms,” Devenanzio recounted. However, he was displeased when they took matters into their own hands and started responding to other users without his approval. Upon being informed by friends about the questionable tweet, he swiftly contacted the company’s CEO. Although the post has since been removed, the consequences were irreversible.

In the crypto sphere, some emojis hold symbolic meanings, such as the guerrilla and ape emojis which represent power and full-force actions. Unfortunately, someone made a hasty decision to tweet one of these symbols at Taylor. This called for an immediate response, according to him. He emphasized that he takes this matter very seriously, and as soon as he was informed, he contacted Taylor to ensure she had as much understanding as possible about the situation. His primary goal was to make sure she was fully aware of the facts.

As a passionate cinephile, I shared with EbMaster on February 5th that Devenanzio had gotten in touch and filled me in on the recent events. I emphasized to him that I didn’t think the purpose of his tweet was rooted in racism. I clarified this point for him.

On February 7th, the company sent an email to Hale, containing a statement that had previously been publicized on social media. The statement read: “We deeply apologize for the unauthorized content of a recent tweet posted by our agency, intending to promote the $BANANAS cryptocurrency. The Gorilla and Ape Emojis are frequently used in the crypto world to represent holding currencies and were instrumental in branding and marketing the $BANANAS coin. However, considering the context of the response, it is evident that the content was inappropriate and does not align with our agency’s values or our client’s. We are truly sorry for any distress this may have caused and are currently examining our internal procedures to prevent a reoccurrence. We are collaborating closely with Johnny to resolve the issue and rebuild trust.

Afterward, Hale informed EbMaster that she only required him to publicly admit it was a mistake, as they had previously discussed. She explained that such an action would clear Devenanzio of being accused of racism and help in reducing the flow of messages from his fanbase labeling her as a manly gorilla, a racist stereotype against Black women.

Devenanzio waited a few days to be sure he knew all the facts before speaking out.

He expresses that it would never cross his mind to be seen as cruel or offensive. He ponders whether he should stay silent or speak up about this matter. In his view, if even a single person might misinterpret his tweet as reflecting his true nature, that’s one person too many for him. He apologizes for any offense caused and is grateful to those who waited for his explanation before jumping to conclusions and potentially damaging his reputation.

Consequently, the delay led Hale to receive numerous racist messages from people claiming to be fans, as she stated. “I don’t blame Johnny for the insensitive tweet, but I do hold him accountable for his response,” she added. “Prompt public apologies should be given when disrespect occurs, and this should happen through the same platform. I believe both Johnny and I would agree that we want to put an end to the narrative of racism and cool down tensions on all sides.

Devenanzio is seriously thinking about taking the marking team to court because of the damage they’ve inflicted.

Since 2006, Devenanzio has been a fixture in reality television, first appearing on “The Real World.” From 2018 to 2023, he hosted the NBC show “1st Look.” In this span, he also emerged victorious in seven seasons of “The Challenge.” In 2024, he participated in Season 2 of Peacock’s “The Traitors.

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2025-02-11 04:47