In recent years, Big Brother fans have been interested in things like the people who found love in the house and the 26th season’s many twists. However, reality TV fans who are passionate enough about Big Brother to rank each season will know that the show has dealt with several scandals.
Long before Adam Jasinski’s life fell apart, back in the era when the first female player won, a truly shocking moment took place in the Big Brother house. After the season that event took place in ended, most fans moved on so they don’t know what happened next. What that fans doesn’t realize is that one of the people involved sued CBS for what happened to them.
CBS Got Sued Because Of The First Big Brother Player, Justin Sebik, Who Was Expelled From The Game
In 2001, the second season of Big Brother aired. Arguably the most important season in the show’s history, season 2 completely changed the show’s format and featured a great cast which included Dr. Will Kirby. For all the good things Big Brother 2 had going for it, the season also featured one of the darkest chapters in the show’s history.
Early on in the season, a truly disturbing series of events took place in the Big Brother house. The situation was so worrisome that it resulted in the first player being expelled from the game in Big Brother history.
While fans definitely know that Justin Sebik was expelled from the Big Brother house, most don’t know there were more consequences that followed. As it turns out, Justin’s actions in the house resulted in Krista Stegall filing a lawsuit against CBS months later.
On July 4, 2002, The Guardian published an article about Krista’s lawsuit against CBS.
How Successful Was Krista Stegall during Big Brother 2? | |
|---|---|
Placement: | 6th Place |
Times as Head of Household: | 1 |
Times put up for eviction: | 2 |
How many votes were there to evict her: | 4 |
That article revealed that Krista was accusing CBS of negligence for putting her in peril by letting Justin in the Big Brother house.
The Guardian’s article quotes Krista’s lawyer, Clayton Burgess, speaking about how her team viewed the decision to expose Big Brother 2’s cast to Justin.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt [CBS] made a huge mistake letting him in and keeping him in.”
Roughly a year and a half before Krista sued CBS,
Survivor’s
Stacey Stillman also filed a lawsuit against the network.
The Guardian’s article also revealed that Krista’s lawsuit was filed in New Orleans. That is interesting since Krista was from the same area the lawsuit was filed in, but the Big Brother house was in Los Angeles.
In July 2002, Entertainment Weekly published another article about Krista’s lawsuit. That piece revealed a fascinating detail about the lawsuit. While both articles stated that Krista was suing for unspecified damages, EW’s article added an extra detail.
According to EW, Krista was asking for an additional payment on top of the unspecified damages. As a part of her lawsuit, Krista was demanding reimbursement for psychological counseling expenses.
EW’s article also detailed the incident that led to Krista’s lawsuit in the first place. One night inside the Big Brother house, Krista Stegall and Justin Sebik had both been drinking alcohol and were affectionate. As the pair were kissing in Big Brother’s kitchen, Justin retrieved a knife from a drawer.
The incident involving Justin Sebik and Krista Stegall in the kitchen took place only 10 days into
Big Brother 2’s
filming.
Justin then stated that he was going to use the kitchen utensil against Krista’s throat. While still wielding the kitchen utensil, Justin asked Krista if she would be mad if he did something to end her life.
At that point in the incident, Big Brother’s producers stepped in. They did this by speaking over the house’s speakers to tell Justin to go to the diary room. After lengthy conversations with Justin that night, he was expelled from the house.
Entertainment Weekly’s 2002 article quoted what Justin Sebik told Julie Chen about the Krista Stegall incident after he was expelled from the house. ”If there is anyone who can perceive that as an act of violence or a threat, then you’re an idiot.”
There are some important background details to keep in mind about this incident. First off, Justin had previously been arrested on assault charges in 1996 and for theft and assault in 1997. It was also reported that CBS admitted to knowing about the 1997 arrest, but the network pointed out those charges were dropped. Secondly, Big Brother’s producer Arnold Shaprio told The New York Times that Justin had been warned by the show twice for inappropriate behavior before the incident in the kitchen.
Based on everything that was known about Justin before the incident, Krista accused CBS of negligence. The Guardian’s aforementioned article quoted CBS’ statement about the lawsuit at that time.
“We think there is no merit to this lawsuit and we are prepared to defend it vigorously.”
There were never any updates on Krista’s lawsuit, which has caused some observers to assume an out-of-court settlement was reached. However, it is important to note that is unconfirmed conjecture.
What Happened To Justin Sebik And Krista Stegall After The Big Brother 2 Incident?
After Krista Stegall left the Big Brother house, she unfortunately went through some troubles that were publicly reported. The first troubling incident involving Krista took place in 2010.
In May 2010, TMZ reported that Krista had accused the former Survivor player Kenward “Boo” Bernis of assaulting her in a public bathroom. In December of the same year, Krista was able to get a restraining order against Kenward extended for a year, according to TMZ’s article.
Roughly five years later, Krista wound up on TMZ again after she was arrested in October 2015. That article reported that Krista had been arrested for filing a false police report against her ex-husband claiming his house was unfit for their children.
Krista has been out of the headlines since those incidents, and it is unclear how she is doing today.
In December 2023, ScreenRant published an article about what happened to Justin Sebik. That article revealed that Justin also got in trouble with the law after Big Brother 2.
The outlet article pointed to January 2002 reporting from The Huron Daily Tribune that stated Justin had been arrested for assaulting his girlfriend. The allegations Justin was facing at the time claimed there was a violent incident involving choking and his girlfriend suffering a broken ankle.
On the other hand, ScreenRant’s article stated that Justin had become a family man, based on his social media activity. These facts haven’t been confirmed, however.