BBB 22: Laís apologizes to Linn for anonymous text that caused controversy

Laís seems to have captured the message that presenter Tadeu Schmidt gave in Sunday’s edition (23) of BBB 22 (Globo). On that occasion, he asked who was “single” among the women of the house, then who was “single” among the men and, finally, asked Linn da Quebrada to explain by which pronoun he liked to be addressed.

The scene was motivated by anonymous text messages sent within confinement to the singer, who defines herself as a transvestite, in which someone asked her if she was “single”. In the Saturday edition of the program, it was revealed that the author of the message was Laís.

This Monday (24), the doctor sought Linn to explain. She said the phrase was not a direct question as to whether the singer was single, but a reference to the question she asked the men of the house when they were performing (“Are you single? A friend wants to know”).

The speech was interpreted as transphobic by the public, which even put the phrase “Linn deserves respect” at the top of the most talked about topics on Twitter. Other episodes, such as pronoun errors by other participants and even the use of the word “traveco” also yielded complaints.

“Do you remember when we were doing the presentation here, that you started: ‘Are you single? Are you single? They’re asking here’. Do you remember? I thought it was great, because when everyone forgot, you asked”, he said. “Then I took it and texted you.”

Laís assured that she did not intend to use the male pronoun to refer to the singer. “It wasn’t me asking you if you were single, it was [imitando] you talking to the crowd”, he said.

She also said the message was initially sent the day after the performance, but it wasn’t shown on the living room screen until the next day. So she even wrote the message a second time, this time using “single”.

Linn confessed that she was uncomfortable with the message, but waited to understand what had happened. “I didn’t even ask people who had sent it,” he said. “I waited for someone to come talk to me.”

The singer said that she imagined the intention of the author, until then unknown, when she saw the second message. The doctor said that she only realized that her message could have given rise to other interpretations after Tadeu’s speech.

“I already wanted to wake you up, because I was in agony”, said the doctor. “I said: ‘Old man, that’s not it, they’re getting it all wrong’. I didn’t tell them that I had sent it, I want to talk to Lina first. I said, ‘Damn, maybe she’s feeling bad.”

“On the day I was upset, yes, but I waited, I didn’t even ask,” replied the singer. “After I met you, you fucking woman, impose respect, you’re beautiful, wonderful, full, there’s no mistaking it”, praised the doctor. “I think it gets mixed up like that, because we give ourselves the right to be confused,” Linn countered.

“Sometimes, maybe I’ve let it go, but most of the time I’ve brought [o assunto a tona]”, he explained. “Because it’s even better for me not to feel uncomfortable. Otherwise I’m left with an embarrassment that doesn’t belong to me, right?”

Linn thanked him for the explanation, and Laís ended apologizing. “I would never ask you like that. Sorry if I made you upset,” he said. “It’s all right, it’s all freaked out,” replied the singer.