Dee Nguyen Speaks Out After Challenge Firing, Wes Bergmann and More Costars React

Dee Nguyen released a new statement on Wednesday, apologizing to her costars at “The Challenge” and condemning her own comments after she was fired from the reality show.

MTV gave Nguyen the axe on Monday night, after she tweeted what the network called “offensive” remarks about the Black Lives Matter movement. The network said they will air the remaining episodes of “The Challenge: Total Madness” — on which she is currently competing — and explained their decision to fire Nguyen, stressing that they “strongly condemn systemic racism.”

“I want to sincerely apologize to my fellow cast members, the production crew at Bunin-Murray and the staff at MTV for my choice of words and actions in the most recent events,” the reality star told Us Weekly. “What was stated wasn’t meant to be hurtful or discriminatory in any matter. It was a knee jerk of a reaction and it’s certainly not the way that I feel nor what I meant.”

“I would love to take it back. But it is out there and to set to record straight. Racial intolerance is intolerable and unacceptable,” she continued. “Having had to deal with racism my entire life, ironically through all this, there is a warm feeling I have with the fact that humans are standing together to call out unacceptable comments and behaviors that in the past were rarely called on. Again, we are shown that you can be judged in a second on all social media platforms.”

Nguyen’s management company, BLVK released a statement of its own, also condemning her tweets but standing by their client … for now.

“At this time our team wanted to kindly state we stand strong behind our fellow MTV client @deenguyen,” they wrote on Instagram. “We respectfully ask your outlet or business organization to let our team conduct an internal review as this situation unfolds.”

“Our team is as shocked as you could imagine and would like to affirm that BLVK does not tolerate any form of racism what so ever we also have an obligation and duty to our clients to ensure their voices are heard and if any of them have made a mistake allow them to have the opportunity to fix it or clarify it,” it continued. “We are working on this as we speak and ask for some patience before any further decision is made.”

The controversy began last week when Nguyen — who has starred on three seasons of “The Challenge” — received backlash after posting a black square for #BlackOutTuesday on her Instagram, along with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. Critics slammed the reality star saying she needed to add more information and resources about the movement.

“READ THE F—KING ROOM,” a user commented. “All you posted was a black square and went about your day and posted your lame ass thirst traps. Wake up!!! People are dying. Smh.”

Nguyen, 27, clapped back at the critic, writing “people die every f–king day. U don’t know me or what I do. I suggest u wake the f–k up and get off social media.”

“IDK why some of you think I’m anti-BLM,” she wrote in a since-deleted tweet on Sunday. “I’ve been saying that since the day I lost my virginity.”

Following her tweets, Nguyen continued to be slammed by critics, including from her “Challenge” co-star, Bayleigh Dayton, who said she was “disgusted” and accused Nguyen of “posting for clout.”

Dayton’s husband, Swaggy C, another one of Nguyen’s “Total Madness” co-stars, came to his wife’s defense, saying he was going to “air [Ngyuen’s] whole shit out.” Swaggy C delivered and went off on Nguyen in a lengthy Twitter rant, claiming she does everything “for f–king clout and drama.” (You can check out his full thread, here.)

After MTV fired her, Dee’s costar and friend Wes Bergmann revealed she had been staying with him in Missouri during COVID-19 lockdown. He explained that he made her leave his home and claimed he worked with her to get help for her mental health.

“I stand in support of the BLM movement. As evidenced not only by everything I stand for, but everyone I stand wit. What Dee said was absurd, insensitive & wrong. But most of all, it was ignorant,” he wrote in a lengthy statement on Tuesday.

“Dee was basically my daughter,” he continued. “I made the decision to ask her to leave in less than an hour. This public decision is what the world needed & deserved. But it doesn’t stop me grieving.”

Saying her mental health had “deteriorated to a level where being in a hotel alone would have been the most dangerous option” for her, Bergmann said he helped her find a place to go. “Yesterday we successfully landed her in what I’m going to refer to as a mental health lodge,” he claimed, saying she has access to psychotherapy sessions while there.

“Throughout this time we were able to sit with her and educate her on her mistakes,” he continued. “Systemic racism can not be explained in a night, but I tried and made as much progress as could be expected in this short of a window.”

Read his full post below, as well as reaction to both Dee’s firing and her initial tweets from more “Challenge” alums.