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  • SUNDAY NOVEMBER 4 2007 9:00 AM

Fingergate. Seriously. That Is What It Is Being Called.



Welcome to the world of creepy and awful: It’s Big Brother in South Africa. Things went horribly wrong during the filming of South Africa’s second season of Big Brother. A woman got incredibly drunk, passed out, at which point her housemate sexually abused her. And to top it off, producers apparently thought it was totally okay to air.

Ofunneka Molokwu is a 29-year-old medical assistant who decided to spend the day drinking. She black out after an extended period of vomiting. That’s when 24-year-old housemate Richard Bezuidenhout decided to take advantage of the woman. As another housemate begged him to stop, Bezuidenhout “penetrated her vagina with his fingers” while Molokwu lay unconscious. He then sat down in a chair across the room and sniffed his fingers for a while. Seriously. This actually happened on television, while people watched at home.


Viewers flooded newspapers and Internet message boards with emails expressing outrage. Many of the emails contained photo clips from the program, which appeared to show housemate Richard Bezuidenhout, a 24-year-old film student from Tanzania, assaulting Ofunneka Molokwu, a 29-year-old medical assistant from Nigeria.


The pay-TV channel insists that no such attack took place, even though people watched it occur. The channel took the high road.


"There is no indication that [Molokwu] was unconscious at the time," M-Net executive Joseph Hundah said.


Riiiight. I guess that is why producers called paramedics after the attack and cut the live feed, because all was well. Oh, and go fuck yourself.

In South Africa a woman is assaulted every 40 seconds. Bezuidenhout’s actions constitute rape under South African law. Bezuidenhout decided to top the assault by being an even bigger asshole when he opened his Neanderthal mouth to explain his actions to his other housemates.


Well, this is Africa.


Well, then maybe we can get you killed by a lion.

Now, in an even more hideous turn of events, the controversy is being called "Fingergate." Seriously.


The fallout over what is now being dubbed 'Fingergate' continues.


Barf.

 

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Comments
ElizaTheTroll

ElizaTheTroll

Australia
January 2006

NOV 04, 2007 05:01 PM

jimindc said:
There is a version of Big Brother in almost all countries. Please note this happened on the SOUTH AFRICAN version of Big Brother, which is an independent show produced in SOUTH AFRICA and really has not much to do with any other version, in any other country (except for the name.)



Also, the fact that the name of the production company is usually "Endemol [insert country name]" is a complete coincidence.

Thanks for your well-informed input.

photoline

photoline

Edmonton, AB
January 2005

NOV 04, 2007 05:23 PM

Apparently, it's still the stone age in parts of Africa -- TV studios, for instance.

The Director-General of the BBC in the UK was sacked for poor editing of a press trailer for a documentary on the Queen. The South African TV producer's (infr)action is worthy of a beheading.

mattacme

mattacme

Calistoga, CA
February 2006

NOV 04, 2007 05:25 PM

imclever said:
Can so -called Reality TV be outlawed and the people that bring us this tripe be shot now?

Please?

Except for Kid Nation, I sorta like that one. I like the insane kid from Georgia.



I know you're clever so hope you concur that Kid Nation must also go. Please inform when reality TV viewer hunting season begins. I want to bag the limit in all 50 states. skull

artpie

artpie

Winston Salem, NC
December 2003

NOV 04, 2007 06:12 PM

So... after a brief search, I found this article.

Now this guy sounds like a total pig but lets be sure before we break out the firing squad.


Earlier this week, the advocacy group Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre to End Violence Against Women was said to be considering sending a lawyer's letter to the broadcaster to demand unedited footage of the incident for perusal by experts in sexual violence.

But, after viewing the footage on Friday, Lisa Vetten, of Tshwaranang, said: "In relation to Ofunneka there is no sexual assault there - it looks very consensual. I think that in relation to Tatiana, I would have been concerned if he tried to have sex with her, but it appears that once he put her on the bed and she continued to demonstrate a lack of interest, he left her alone. I'm satisfied that nothing untoward happened."





M-Net (the production company)said earlier this week that a fishing game which led to the three-in-a-bed incident had involved alcohol, but the viewing revealed that Big Brother's instructions were that housemates "sip" the cocktails after catching a fish, while the participants are clearly heard to be urging each other to "gulp" the drinks..

Shortly thereafter, the four housemates - including Maureen Namatovu of Uganda, who was evicted the day after the incident - are seen collapsing on the floor on top of each other, laughing uproariously. Bezuidenhout then simulated sex standing behind Durao, but both are fully clothed.

He referred to his penis as "a weapon from Tanzania" and posed like a soldier shooting a machine-gun. "Tell them how nice Zanzibar is," he said to Durao.

"I'm going to bump you all before you leave this house," he added.

Bezuidenhout, who is newly married, then scooped up Durao, with whom he had already had consensual sex in the house, and carried her to the bedroom, suggesting he would like to have sex with her again. She said "no" and then passed out.

A few minutes later, after Molokwu had arrived in the bedroom and vomited repeatedly, Bezuidenhout lay between the two women under the sheet. Durao was also under the sheet, apparently asleep. Molokwu grabbed Bezuidenhout's face, trying to kiss him, but he refused.

He then turned his back on her playfully, and she grabbed his crotch and rubbed herself against his body. This activity went on for several minutes.

Bezuidenhout laughed and giggled throughout the encounter with Molokwu, which was cut short when paramedics arrived in the bedroom. They removed Durao for medical attention, and Bezuidenhout was escorted out.



this is only one source, so I"m looking for corroboration


I'm no fan of reality tv... so fucking lowest common denominator shit. But with an impending WGA strike, I'm afraid we can only look forward to more of the same. puke

makebelieve

makebelieve

Winston Salem, NC
February 2007

NOV 04, 2007 06:38 PM

KUNGFOO said:

jimindc said:
There is a version of Big Brother in almost all countries. Please note this happened on the SOUTH AFRICAN version of Big Brother, which is an independent show produced in SOUTH AFRICA and really has not much to do with any other version, in any other country (except for the name.)



Yes, let's please not drag the good name of a show like Big Brother through the mud.



lol. I had that exact thought as I read that post.

BoxOfficePoison

BoxOfficePoison

Portland, OR
June 2003

NOV 04, 2007 06:50 PM

It really takes a lot of plummeting for reality tv to hit a new low. This kind of did it. puke puke

SorchaBlue

SorchaBlue

Austin, TX
June 2007

NOV 04, 2007 08:08 PM

... I really wonder about some people... what the fuck is wrong with them?... I can only say that I really hope they get theirs... They will. eventually. Kharma always bites you in the ass one way or another...

but still... that poor girl... and what a fuck head loser... sheezus... >.< bleghhhh.. puke

AmbientLight

AmbientLight

I'm lost
March 2005

NOV 04, 2007 08:24 PM

Dovanna said:
Fingergate?? That sounds so commercial and even humorous. It's sexual assault. Not funny, and not to be dumbed down to a catchy media-friendly "word of the moment".



UGH! grrrrrrrrrrrrr mad



And to air that on TV? WOW eeek



Thank you!!! I couldn't have said it better myself!!!

puke puke puke

AmbientLight

AmbientLight

I'm lost
March 2005

NOV 04, 2007 08:40 PM

I'm not sure what outrages me more... the assault itself, the onlookers who did nothing, the camera people who continued to film it, the producers who aired it, or the execs who justified it.

This is beyond merely disgusting!!!

mad puke mad

chilung

chilung

Australia
April 2005

NOV 04, 2007 10:14 PM

and I thought the Australian one was doing well with the dick massage and the turkey slap, apparently not well enough.
I can't believe they tried to cover it up after airing it surreal I can't believe they aired it surreal I can unfortunately believe they would stand by and let it happen mad

FellOnEarth

FellOnEarth

Temecula, CA
April 2006

NOV 04, 2007 10:55 PM

Am I the only who thinks of a finger getting slammed in a closing gate when I hear the term "fingergate"?

Really bad move on the TV end of things, any crimes committed during recording should be dealt with immediately. What if someone snapped and threatened to kill someone? You'd hope they would intervene before they end up with what could amount to snuff footage (and evidence of negligence on their part)... I suppose if it weren't a live feed though, people might never have known outside of the cast and the television crew, in which case who knows what type of "intervention" could occur. My guess, they'd keep the unconscious woman in the dark after paying everyone else off with hush money. As bad as it is hopefully it will at least bring attention to the reality and prevalence of sexual assault, although I'm not sure if awareness alone will help reduce its incidence.

burtlo

burtlo

Seattle, WA
May 2004

NOV 04, 2007 11:54 PM

soulcompromise said:
I think Africa was considering an anti-rape device that a woman could put up her poonani that would bite onto a guy if he tried to take advantage. When I opened this topic I thought it was going to be about that. But like I always say... they should give the death penalty in certain rape cases.



Dentata?

Dark_Cabal

Dark_Cabal

Arvada, CO
June 2006

NOV 05, 2007 12:05 PM

And I thought American television was the worst.

Phantom_medic

Phantom_medic

Des Moines, IA
October 2007

NOV 05, 2007 12:18 PM

What the hell is happening to the world when people can get away with this shit? i mean come on now? and fingergate? what the fuck?

halfjack

halfjack

Allston, MA
June 2005

NOV 05, 2007 02:40 PM

glurp

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