On this past week's episode of
Real World Sydney, cast member
Trisha Cummings came under fire for her racist remarks regarding a McDonald's employee. The 19-year-old California native put herself in hot water for ranting about an Asian employee after not receiving a free sample of a McFlurry. On national television, Cummings described the incident to her housemates. "I'm like, you know what, keep the money, maybe take some English lessons - I'm leaving cause you don't know how to speak English," she said.
Her manager, Michael Martin, was quick to dispel the talk that she was a racist. "The only thing Trisha is guilty of is a both a lack of patience & empathy for others but of course that can said of most of us in The Real World," he wrote on his website.
Your Take
Vlakryja said:
At any rate, The Real World is supposed to be a social learning experience, both for those partaking in it,...
Vlakryja said:
No, Trisha's just another instance of a white girl, born in relatively wealthy community of mostly Caucasia...
Martin further goes on to defend Cummings on his company's site by saying, "Her recollection of events when she describes this situation has no mention of race or ethnicity and there was no direct footage of the incident, so for what anyone knows it could have been a white Australian with a thick Australian accent." It was only discovered after her comments were made that the worker was, in fact, as Asian Australian.
Regardless of whether or not she is racist, Cummings will not be the first person to come under fire for her comments on the show. In season one, Julie Gentry was accused of making snap judgments about African Americans. When the show went back to New York in season ten, Coral Smith confronted Mike Mizanin after he made what she perceived to be racist comments. And on last season, which took place in Denver, Davis Malloy yelled out many offensive things to his roommates, Stephen Nichols and Tyrie Ballard.
Cummings' ultimate goal is to become an MTV host or VJ. First, she may have to work on her people skills. Besides her run-in at Mickey D's, she has butted heads with fellow cast member
Parisa Montazaran since day one in the house. The reason for the feud has not been made clear yet other than an obvious clash of personalities. The Real World airs Wednesday nights on MTV. The network has not issued a comment or statement regarding Cummings' behavior.
- Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
Source: MSN Australia, News.com.au, Michael Martin Agency
(Image courtesy of MTV)