Former "Big Brother 2" contestant Krista Stegall is suing CBS over last
season's highly publicized "knife incident".
Richard Burgess of Louisiana's Daily Advertiser newspaper reports that Stegall, a single mother and current Lafayette radio personality, is seeking "unspecified damages" from CBS Broadcasting in the law suit.
In the filing, Stegall claims that Justin Sebik -- the male contestant who held a knife to her throat during a night of reported heavy
drinking in the "Big Brother 2" house, asking her if she would be upset if
he killed her -- should never have been permitted to participate in the show
due to his alleged past arrests on assault charges.
Stegall also claims that CBS did not provide proper psychological
counseling to help her deal with the incident.
"By failing to do a proper background, check they placed all of the house
guests, including Krista, in danger," Stegall's attorney, Clayton Burgess,
told The Daily Advertiser.
A spokesperson for CBS Broadcasting told JAM! Showbiz the
lawsuit has "no merit" and that the studio is prepared to defend against
it in a "vigorous" manner.
When JAM! Showbiz contacted former "Big Brother 2" contestant Kent
Blackwelder today about his former housemate's law suit, Blackwelder wasn't
surprised at all.
"Oh, that sounds like Krista," he chuckled.
For his actions, Sebik was removed from the "Big Brother 2" game. "Big
Brother" producer Arnold Shapiro issued a statement following the
banishment, saying "Justin's behavior crossed the line of tolerable and
acceptable behavior, and was a blatant violation of the house rules we
established. As much as we like Justin, we really had no choice but to
expel him from the house."
A short time after the incident, Sebik, a bartender from New
Jersey, told "Big Brother" host Julie Chen in an interview that he and
Stegall were just joking around.
"If there's anyone that can perceive that as an act of violence or as a
threat then you're an idiot, all right, and I don't know what the hell
you're watching and I don't know what kind of glasses you're looking
through," he said.
When Stegall was eventually voted out of the game in August of last year,
she told "Early Show" host Hattie Kauffman that she has no memory of the
incident that prompted "Big Brother 2" producers to remove Sebik from the
show in July.
"When Julie asked me about this, I had no recollection of what she was
talking about because we were basically joking around," Krista said. "They
(the producers) blew that completely out of proportion. Justin is just a
fun guy. I really don't have the memory of the knife. Maybe my eyes were
closed at the time, but I never viewed him as a threat. So it wasn't part
of my strategy. I just didn't remember it," Stegall said to Kauffman.
In the "Big Brother" show, contestants must remain in a house on the CBS
Studio in California for three months without contact with the outside
world.
The "Big Brother" house is outfitted with 38 cameras and 62
microphones, which record the lives of the 12 contestants 24 hours a day for
three months. The goings-on are broadcast on TV as well as on the Internet.
Each week the contestants vote one of their own out until just two are
left. The final surviving House Guests are then subjected to a final vote.
During that vote, the banished House Guests return to pick the winner.
This year's edition of the show debuts on Wednesday, July 10 at 9 p.m. ET
on CBS. An episode will then be broadcast each Wednesday, Thursday
and Saturday for the next three months.
