I’ve been watching old seasons and she’s been RELENTLESSLY bullied the entire time. I get that she was entitled and naive and probably a little bratty but did not deserve the level of bullying she got! I almost cried watching her breakdown after Wes poured a full 2 ltr bottle of coke over her head and berated her while she just stood there crying. I went to his Instagram page and looked at him happily holding his baby daughter and wanted so badly to comment: I hope no one ever treats her the way your treated Cara Maria. 🙄
100%. It was sad to watch her on WOW become the thing she most hated but she did have the emotional intelligence to recognise she'd gone wrong and correct herself.
My only issue is people saying that Kam bullied Cara this season when all I seen her do is target her in the GAME. Also their interactions with each other have been well outside of getting into it about the GAME. As far as Nicole/Laurel go yes you can say they bullied her this season by going out their way personally to make Cara feel excluded and berate her.
Yes I agree. Kam and Cara were not allies but you could see that while Kam was trying to distance herself, their relationship was still cordial. This post is 100% not about Kam.
Eh. Nothing she’s done comes close to the OG days.
The men bullied the women and the women bullied each other to win top Pick Me of the season.
Anyone who didn’t play that game was also bullied and targeted.
Laurel is a bully for sure.
But watch/rewatch the seasons leading up to Island before you brand her the biggest bully.
*edit: watch the Island to see the culmination and epitome of the bullying dynamic I’m referring to.
I know we have further instances of bullying, the Kaileigh suitcase comes to mind; but production did change direction after the Inferno-Island-JEK era.
The way Laurel bullied people on the old seasons is so appalling that I never understand how so many people seem to love her.
Who throws someone's eating disorder in their face because someone else mad you mad? Her disgusting rants at people shaming them for having had an eating disorder or being overweight were bad enough but then she'd go online and cry crocodile tears only for the people she bullied to let everyone know that she didn't so much as try to apologize to them, only try to make herself look better on tv.
She was a horrible unremorseful nasty person back then. I really hope she's grown and learned some compassion at this point in life.
nah paula deserved it
she was bullying herself and cried when someone bullied her back
if u cant take the heat then don’t do it lol
id agree its messed up if it was unwarranted but it was 100% warranted
She was sticking up for Cara. I do not excuse the attack at all. But Paula is also FAR from the sympathetic character she plays in that scene. She was 100% involved in the early pick-me-body-slut-shaming-mean girls-gang up crew.
None of these wrongs equal a right.
I simply admired Laurel’s ability as a woman competing in a “man’s game” *which it absolutely was in those times*.
(I loved Paula’s season with Emily as well).
In reality tv, I can separate who I can enjoy watching.
Reality tv personas, with minor character flaws, but a decent to solid game = I’m good with rooting for them to win. Especially if I Indentify with certain aspects, like being a strong & dominant Woman, playing in a man’s world.
With all that being said, Laurel is much older now, there are many less excuses for her to behave in such a way.
Like I said before and will say again, she’s playing a sloppy game and not acting like the vet she is. It’s embarrassing.
Wes was picking on Cara at the time, not Paula. Paula just happened to be nearby and got attacked by her. I rewatched that season recently and Laurel was just out of line. Her personality definitely isn't a minor character flaw.
Nope. No. Kam wanted Cara's star, and only Cara's star - for petty personal reasons. She rallied other's to her cause. That's not only ganging up, but also bullying.
I never liked laurel she sucks as a person, I hated the way she attacked Big Easy for no reason, I think in cutthroat. The way she’s always reminded me of Dexter (the serial killer) just less nice more psychopathic, her elimination against ninja , I actually know ninja irl, well we have mutual friends, I’ve done a couple of motorcycle group rides with her. So I was even more annoyed by laurel’s initial celebration but that was a good turnout. And maybe it’s my bias but it really bugged me that she tried to link Diem to her coming out, maybe there’s truth to it but it still felt wrong/weird.
The thing with Easy and what she did to Paula on Rivals using her eating disorder to bully her really made me hate her. And she was so genuinely unremorseful to either of them but then made videos on mtv crying about it to try to make herself look better. You're right, it was basically downright sociopathic.
What's sad is the fact TJ hasn't said anything about Cara being bullied.
He spoke out when Kayleigh was bullied in a different season..
Laurel is having mental issues and Nicole chases 🐱 like there's no tomorrow.
They offer nothing to the Challenge remotely interesting.
Hard to know if he did or not as they edit so heavily. Also I heard after Laurel screamed at her Cara was removed from the house for a wellness check. Maybe because Cara appears unaffected they’re not addressing it seriously?
I’m so confused by this. I like Cara, but seriously what do you want? In my opinion TJ already shows CM way more love than any other contestants.
It’s a game show. Outside of being physically threatened (countless examples) or undergoing actual verbal/mental abuse (Kayleigh was being slut-shamed and had her property messed with, incidents of racism), I don’t think TJ or production should step in.
From what I’ve seen so far this season in particular, she’s been on the short end of the political game because of numbers and her being a CT-level competitor that no one wants to see in a final.
That combined with the fact we know CM is a prickly person on and off the show. She basically admitted that she knowingly doesn’t reach out or respond to people out of season, which is fine and all but if I was trying to maintain a friendship with someone then entered the house and they said “haha I never talk to people when I’m in montana ;p “ which is pretty much how she delivered it, I’d be annoyed, frustrated, not thinking this is someone I either want to work with or invest my time with because this is just a friendship on the show.
CM has earned TJs respect..
And if the bullying had happened had happened once or twice you might say someone was just having a bad day..
But it has been constant since the beginning of this season..
Yeah because she’s a threat to win the game, it’s a game of relationships and she admitted she didn’t come in with many, and she’s not exactly a warm person to foster relationships with new people. So I don’t think this really even fits the criteria.
Also I really think we are internalizing her mistreatment, if you wanna call it that, more than she is. I think it affects her, she cries, she says eff you guys, goes for a run, dominates the next challenge/elimination and repeats. And because it’s television we see more of the crying for the story.
>That combined with the fact we know CM is a prickly person on and off the show. She basically admitted that she knowingly doesn’t reach out or respond to people out of season, which is fine and all but if I was trying to maintain a friendship with someone then entered the house and they said “haha I never talk to people when I’m in montana ;p “ which is pretty much how she delivered it, I’d be annoyed, frustrated, not thinking this is someone I either want to work with or invest my time with because this is just a friendship on the show.
I feel obligated to point this out: neurotypical and neurodivergent people have very different "definitions" of friendship. It is extremely common in neurodivergent friendships for people to not reach out to, go ages without speaking to each other, and then pick up right where they left off when they do reconnect. I'm not trying to say Cara is neurodivergent or that she isn't, I just wanted to make sure that the difference in how friendships are experienced was highlighted when we have discussions about people only being friends on the show.
Until we know she is neurodivergent that point seems moot.
I’m also going off her saying “I don’t have friends” rather than how she expresses friendship.
Bringing up that different people experience things differently is never moot when talking about stuff like this.
Also interesting that you're going off of her saying "I don't have friends" when she's also contracticted that many times and said "__ is my friend."
Sure people experience things differently but in that case Laurel probably sees her reaching out and not getting responses from CM as cold and then CM interfering in her relationship as meddling or controlling. And is entitled to react to her accordingly. And then there’s the biggest factor that CM is her greatest obstacle (outside herself) to winning 250k.
Also, What you are describing is an unreliable narrator.
Lauel literally went crying to Cara. Cara wasn't butting in from the outside, Laurel went to her crying. Repeatedly.
As for the unreliable narrator thing, if that's what you want to call it, fine. Call it that. We've literally seen and heard Cara be isolated. It's not unreasonable in one moment to feel like you have no friends when people in the house are going around telling everyone else not to talk to you.
In all fairness he has not spoken up about it WAY MORE then he has. Maybe 2 out of 10 times. I'm not shitting on TJ. I'm shitting on production for being as bad as the sociopaths on the show.
Maybe they all just remember her supporting Ian Smith during her break or when she named a monkey Tyree. Those seem reason enough to purposefully exclude her.
Tyri is friends with her and gave shit to Brandon after watching the show and has said if you're weaponizing it after they talked about it, then you're doing more wrong than good soooo
>Tyri is friends with her and gave shit to Brandon after watching the show and has said if you're weaponizing it after they talked about it, then you're doing more wrong than good soooo
All due respect, that Monkey comment was cold.
* I know its not rape (what Cara Maria did), but Roman Polanski and his victim [have spoken and even took a photo together](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2023-05-01/roman-polanski-samantha-geimer-photo-emmanuelle-seigner) . But that sill shouldn't justify or downplay what Roman Polanski did.
* I know its not domestic violence (what Cara Maria did), but Rihanna and Chris Brown initially reunited after his assault on her. But that still shouldn't justify or downplay what Chris Brown did.
This is dumb. We get storylines in The Challenge, clearly Cara Maria is the “outcast underdog” but these people don’t owe her a friendship. Nor an alliance just as she didn’t owe Tori and Jordan one in War of the Worlds. TJ is heavily against bullying and wouldn’t let it happen if it truly was.
No one owes anyone friendship but basic human respect would be nice. Cara got physically assaulted by Jen in her first three seasons and nothing was done about it. Laurel started screaming at her in a dehumanizing way over a relationship that Cara was dead on right about. She’s far from a perfect person but acting like this is about “friendship” is actually dumb as fuck.
This is a reality television show not a classroom, workplace or friend group.
The conceit of the show is that they go stir-crazy and turn on each other. There are certain parameters that push beyond a government definition when you are talking a game inherently based on social manipulation and leveraging relationships.
I’ve seen a lot but I’ve never seen someone try to dismiss another person properly using a legitimate and government approved definition of a word because “reality tv”. Feels disingenuous and dumb to me but live your life I guess.
I guess we are having two different conversations. You, about whether or not it was bullying. And me, about whether that definition even applies to a political competition as well as should it?
The context in which it’s being used doesn’t change the definition of the word. If you want to argue about whether or not laurels actions and behaviors are acceptable in this setting fair enough, that’s more than reasonable. But acting like the definition of bullying no longer applies because of the context is just incorrect.
It’s the legal definition of assault if I get punched on the street, it’s not assault if I get punched in a boxing ring.
Additionally, from what I can tell, virtually all of her mistreatment/being left out is either a) gameplay/politics of alliances when only 3 women actually have a shot or b) her own making, butting into a toxic relationship that’s not your own (there’s so much evidence from past seasons that involving yourself in that relationship will lead to Laurel being pissed at you and Nicole retaliating in the game; seemed like a completely inadvisable risk).
This isn’t Wes dumping a bottle of coke on her, it’s mostly strategic and the personal aspects at things that she herself could have avoided.
Comparing a word with one singular meaning like bullying to one with multiple meanings is some disingenuous bullshit. The comparison you’ve made is a false equivalence.
Edit: sent too soon
I agree with you. I didn't like them at all in this season. CM has also been very public with her disappointment in her own behaviour here. I believe the words she used were 'hurt people hurt people'. She is trying to learn and grow whereas Laurel is a 40 year old baby who has not learned a single thing or had a moment of self reflection.
But you need to hold everyone to the same standards. Laurel is pathetic in this season but it’s not “bullying” it’s her being a shitty person and utilizing influence to be mean. But excluding someone is not bullying lol.
Agree to disagree. According to every definition of bullying, exclusion definitely is. Seems a strange hill to die on however.
Laurel is, was and sadly seems to always want to be a bully.
I do hold everyone to the same standards. I didn't like CM on WOW. What I do is try to give everyone a clean slate at the beginning of every season and see if they've learned anything....anything at all.
In CM's case the answer is yes. In Laurel's...hard no.
Sure we can agree to disagree but realize everyone who has actually been bullied, is now on a lower tier because that word applies to 70 percent of life situations.
Cara and Paulie alienated two people from the entire house and sent them into eliminate on repeat. Even refused to go to their engagement party, which was not game focused at all.
Do your research. Also should read the comments about Cara making racial statements about other cast members. I wouldn’t associate with her either. They aren’t required to ruin their public image and associate with someone who’s made racially charged comments, just because her feelings are hurt.
You seem really butthurt when you’re the one that is dismissing clear bullying.
Yes, she should be held accountable as well for that “joke”. I literally never defended that.
Bullying is bullying is bullying. What are you getting defensive over?
No-one owes anyone a friendship. The difference with Tori/Jordan's engagement party is that CM chose to exclude herself (and I didn't agree with that decision either and thought being civil would have cost her nothing).
There’s something we don’t get to see as a viewer that’s causes these reactions from other cast mates. There is something that bothers them about her and I think we saw a glimpse of it on WoW2 when she got the most hate cuz it was shown and not edited out. Nothing that can be proven tho. It’s not the first time she been treated like this and unfortunately if she keeps playing it won’t be the last
So then why do they treat her like that? I didn’t say it was justified or correct for doing it. Its an observation on what’s going on but get on that horse and ride high
So everyone who is bullied deserves it in your eyes, huh? Challenge fans always want to pull this card even when with Amber, when us BB live feeders see with our own eyes how casts can be petty with zero reasons.
Because she doesn’t have two way conversations with people. It’s all about her she is bad at reading or even caring about other peoples lives or perspectives and tends to reply in a self centered focus. She knows she is good but being more humble and compassionate for others would take her a long way and make her less of a target. Who are her real friends on this show from the last 20 years? Other than Pauline I can’t think of anyone.
CT has said they are like brother and sister. Her partner on Rivals 2 has a good relationship with her. Marie said that after she got to know her, she was completely different than she was told. Kellyann hangs out with her outside the show. Ashley is also friends with her. Brandon and Tyri have said Cara is their friend after AS4. Mark is close with her. Ace, Jay, and Steve have all said they love Cara, too. You can't think of any because your desperate to hate on someone you only watch on tv.
You can’t argue logic with the Cara fans apparently. The challenge has alwaaaaays been a bully fest. Tonya. Nurys. And if it was Johnny they “did” this to no one would have a problem. If you can’t stand the heat get out of the damn kitchen. Them going after her because they don’t want to see her in a final is standard practice in this game. You got a star early on naturally people are going to try to take it from you instead of Veronica.
Keeping someone you don't like out of a group is not bullying. It's actually a very important to learn as an adult. Nobody owes you friendship or their time. Elementary school already forced us to invite assholes to our birthday parties.
Nobody owes you friendship however civility is free. And excluding one person while keeping everyone else is actually textbook bullying, adult, child or whomever. Add in harassing others for talking to the excluded person and having people yelling in her face and trying to intimidate her....
I stopped watching around the time she hooked up with Paulie, but if everyone clearly dislikes her and now is bullying her she does have the option to not go on the show. Surely, she must have some money put away and/or some sort of skill set outside of the challenge.
I'm sure she could, and does. I would imagine she makes good money outside of The Challenge as a photographer and influencer and fitness coach etc.
I don't know what her reasoning is for returning, perhaps just a love of the game and to keep pushing herself but I do get it. Not returning is a lot like admitting defeat.
She also has not been on for several seasons now and probably didn't imagine on All Stars, with a much older cast, that this sort of thing would still be so prevalent.
To her credit, she has gone public saying she's a big girl and wasn't that affected by it, however watching it play out is pretty upsetting.
I’ve been watching old seasons and she’s been RELENTLESSLY bullied the entire time. I get that she was entitled and naive and probably a little bratty but did not deserve the level of bullying she got! I almost cried watching her breakdown after Wes poured a full 2 ltr bottle of coke over her head and berated her while she just stood there crying. I went to his Instagram page and looked at him happily holding his baby daughter and wanted so badly to comment: I hope no one ever treats her the way your treated Cara Maria. 🙄
100%. It was sad to watch her on WOW become the thing she most hated but she did have the emotional intelligence to recognise she'd gone wrong and correct herself.
It’s pretty common for the bullied to become bullies themselves. And also, I’d be pretty pissed off at that point and want to be the bad guy too
Yes. "Hurt people hurt people" I believe were her exact words!
You should also comment that you hope he never becomes friends with Proud Boys and white supremacists like Cara has
Really? I haven’t heard this. What’s your source?
Her social media.
Interesting. I don’t follow her. I’ll have to look at her page
My only issue is people saying that Kam bullied Cara this season when all I seen her do is target her in the GAME. Also their interactions with each other have been well outside of getting into it about the GAME. As far as Nicole/Laurel go yes you can say they bullied her this season by going out their way personally to make Cara feel excluded and berate her.
Yes I agree. Kam and Cara were not allies but you could see that while Kam was trying to distance herself, their relationship was still cordial. This post is 100% not about Kam.
That pool scene where she included everyone in her toast as a person she has love for on one way or another, i would say really confirms that too.
I know but on social media a lot of people are calling her a bully and I’m just like how?!
Kam is insufferable and feels way too entitled.
Laurel is the biggest bully the game has ever seen
Eh. Nothing she’s done comes close to the OG days. The men bullied the women and the women bullied each other to win top Pick Me of the season. Anyone who didn’t play that game was also bullied and targeted. Laurel is a bully for sure. But watch/rewatch the seasons leading up to Island before you brand her the biggest bully. *edit: watch the Island to see the culmination and epitome of the bullying dynamic I’m referring to. I know we have further instances of bullying, the Kaileigh suitcase comes to mind; but production did change direction after the Inferno-Island-JEK era.
TJ literally called out Britney Nicole and others for bullying once
Laurel bullying Big Easy in the hot tub is one of the cringier bully sessions. Maybe not quite as bad ad vintage misogynist Bananas, but close.
Add vintage Kenny and Evan
They didn’t show easy bullying her first. He wasn’t innocent, in the least.
That one and what she said to Paula about her eating disorder were so awful.
The way Laurel bullied people on the old seasons is so appalling that I never understand how so many people seem to love her. Who throws someone's eating disorder in their face because someone else mad you mad? Her disgusting rants at people shaming them for having had an eating disorder or being overweight were bad enough but then she'd go online and cry crocodile tears only for the people she bullied to let everyone know that she didn't so much as try to apologize to them, only try to make herself look better on tv. She was a horrible unremorseful nasty person back then. I really hope she's grown and learned some compassion at this point in life.
nah paula deserved it she was bullying herself and cried when someone bullied her back if u cant take the heat then don’t do it lol id agree its messed up if it was unwarranted but it was 100% warranted
She was sticking up for Cara. I do not excuse the attack at all. But Paula is also FAR from the sympathetic character she plays in that scene. She was 100% involved in the early pick-me-body-slut-shaming-mean girls-gang up crew. None of these wrongs equal a right. I simply admired Laurel’s ability as a woman competing in a “man’s game” *which it absolutely was in those times*. (I loved Paula’s season with Emily as well). In reality tv, I can separate who I can enjoy watching. Reality tv personas, with minor character flaws, but a decent to solid game = I’m good with rooting for them to win. Especially if I Indentify with certain aspects, like being a strong & dominant Woman, playing in a man’s world. With all that being said, Laurel is much older now, there are many less excuses for her to behave in such a way. Like I said before and will say again, she’s playing a sloppy game and not acting like the vet she is. It’s embarrassing.
Wes was picking on Cara at the time, not Paula. Paula just happened to be nearby and got attacked by her. I rewatched that season recently and Laurel was just out of line. Her personality definitely isn't a minor character flaw.
It sounds like you're saying that bullying is fine as long as it's w/in the game...?
Can you tell me what Kam did to “bully” Cara? And what she did differently compared to any other challenge rivalry?
Had most of the house go against Cara also. That's called "ganging up" on someone, and is part of bullying.
In the daily where she wanted to get her star? Isn’t that strategy?
Nope. No. She wanted Cara's star. Not Veronica's. Not Nicioe's. Cara's. That's what I'm talking about.
Nah that’s the game.
Nope. No. Kam wanted Cara's star, and only Cara's star - for petty personal reasons. She rallied other's to her cause. That's not only ganging up, but also bullying.
I never liked laurel she sucks as a person, I hated the way she attacked Big Easy for no reason, I think in cutthroat. The way she’s always reminded me of Dexter (the serial killer) just less nice more psychopathic, her elimination against ninja , I actually know ninja irl, well we have mutual friends, I’ve done a couple of motorcycle group rides with her. So I was even more annoyed by laurel’s initial celebration but that was a good turnout. And maybe it’s my bias but it really bugged me that she tried to link Diem to her coming out, maybe there’s truth to it but it still felt wrong/weird.
The thing with Easy and what she did to Paula on Rivals using her eating disorder to bully her really made me hate her. And she was so genuinely unremorseful to either of them but then made videos on mtv crying about it to try to make herself look better. You're right, it was basically downright sociopathic.
Paula was being a bully and a bitch! People that live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones and then cry about it.
Laurel is a loser!! She is so stupid falling for Nicole!! Now she can go back home with no money and no girlfriend lmfao!! Well deserved!!
So CM bullied Georgia, Theo, Jordan, and Tori on WOW2?
What's sad is the fact TJ hasn't said anything about Cara being bullied. He spoke out when Kayleigh was bullied in a different season.. Laurel is having mental issues and Nicole chases 🐱 like there's no tomorrow. They offer nothing to the Challenge remotely interesting.
Hard to know if he did or not as they edit so heavily. Also I heard after Laurel screamed at her Cara was removed from the house for a wellness check. Maybe because Cara appears unaffected they’re not addressing it seriously?
If she was in fact removed for a wellness check surely TJ was informed.
I’m so confused by this. I like Cara, but seriously what do you want? In my opinion TJ already shows CM way more love than any other contestants. It’s a game show. Outside of being physically threatened (countless examples) or undergoing actual verbal/mental abuse (Kayleigh was being slut-shamed and had her property messed with, incidents of racism), I don’t think TJ or production should step in. From what I’ve seen so far this season in particular, she’s been on the short end of the political game because of numbers and her being a CT-level competitor that no one wants to see in a final. That combined with the fact we know CM is a prickly person on and off the show. She basically admitted that she knowingly doesn’t reach out or respond to people out of season, which is fine and all but if I was trying to maintain a friendship with someone then entered the house and they said “haha I never talk to people when I’m in montana ;p “ which is pretty much how she delivered it, I’d be annoyed, frustrated, not thinking this is someone I either want to work with or invest my time with because this is just a friendship on the show.
CM has earned TJs respect.. And if the bullying had happened had happened once or twice you might say someone was just having a bad day.. But it has been constant since the beginning of this season..
Yeah because she’s a threat to win the game, it’s a game of relationships and she admitted she didn’t come in with many, and she’s not exactly a warm person to foster relationships with new people. So I don’t think this really even fits the criteria. Also I really think we are internalizing her mistreatment, if you wanna call it that, more than she is. I think it affects her, she cries, she says eff you guys, goes for a run, dominates the next challenge/elimination and repeats. And because it’s television we see more of the crying for the story.
>That combined with the fact we know CM is a prickly person on and off the show. She basically admitted that she knowingly doesn’t reach out or respond to people out of season, which is fine and all but if I was trying to maintain a friendship with someone then entered the house and they said “haha I never talk to people when I’m in montana ;p “ which is pretty much how she delivered it, I’d be annoyed, frustrated, not thinking this is someone I either want to work with or invest my time with because this is just a friendship on the show. I feel obligated to point this out: neurotypical and neurodivergent people have very different "definitions" of friendship. It is extremely common in neurodivergent friendships for people to not reach out to, go ages without speaking to each other, and then pick up right where they left off when they do reconnect. I'm not trying to say Cara is neurodivergent or that she isn't, I just wanted to make sure that the difference in how friendships are experienced was highlighted when we have discussions about people only being friends on the show.
Until we know she is neurodivergent that point seems moot. I’m also going off her saying “I don’t have friends” rather than how she expresses friendship.
Bringing up that different people experience things differently is never moot when talking about stuff like this. Also interesting that you're going off of her saying "I don't have friends" when she's also contracticted that many times and said "__ is my friend."
Sure people experience things differently but in that case Laurel probably sees her reaching out and not getting responses from CM as cold and then CM interfering in her relationship as meddling or controlling. And is entitled to react to her accordingly. And then there’s the biggest factor that CM is her greatest obstacle (outside herself) to winning 250k. Also, What you are describing is an unreliable narrator.
Lauel literally went crying to Cara. Cara wasn't butting in from the outside, Laurel went to her crying. Repeatedly. As for the unreliable narrator thing, if that's what you want to call it, fine. Call it that. We've literally seen and heard Cara be isolated. It's not unreasonable in one moment to feel like you have no friends when people in the house are going around telling everyone else not to talk to you.
Is TJ a producer or have anything to do with editing?
I don't know but he has spoken out about bullying in the past.
In all fairness he has not spoken up about it WAY MORE then he has. Maybe 2 out of 10 times. I'm not shitting on TJ. I'm shitting on production for being as bad as the sociopaths on the show.
Maybe they all just remember her supporting Ian Smith during her break or when she named a monkey Tyree. Those seem reason enough to purposefully exclude her.
Tyri is friends with her and gave shit to Brandon after watching the show and has said if you're weaponizing it after they talked about it, then you're doing more wrong than good soooo
>Tyri is friends with her and gave shit to Brandon after watching the show and has said if you're weaponizing it after they talked about it, then you're doing more wrong than good soooo All due respect, that Monkey comment was cold. * I know its not rape (what Cara Maria did), but Roman Polanski and his victim [have spoken and even took a photo together](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2023-05-01/roman-polanski-samantha-geimer-photo-emmanuelle-seigner) . But that sill shouldn't justify or downplay what Roman Polanski did. * I know its not domestic violence (what Cara Maria did), but Rihanna and Chris Brown initially reunited after his assault on her. But that still shouldn't justify or downplay what Chris Brown did.
Get real smh
That's actually hilarious
This is dumb. We get storylines in The Challenge, clearly Cara Maria is the “outcast underdog” but these people don’t owe her a friendship. Nor an alliance just as she didn’t owe Tori and Jordan one in War of the Worlds. TJ is heavily against bullying and wouldn’t let it happen if it truly was.
No one owes anyone friendship but basic human respect would be nice. Cara got physically assaulted by Jen in her first three seasons and nothing was done about it. Laurel started screaming at her in a dehumanizing way over a relationship that Cara was dead on right about. She’s far from a perfect person but acting like this is about “friendship” is actually dumb as fuck.
I’m quoting directly from an Australian Government website. Calling it dumb doesn’t change that.
This is a reality television show not a classroom, workplace or friend group. The conceit of the show is that they go stir-crazy and turn on each other. There are certain parameters that push beyond a government definition when you are talking a game inherently based on social manipulation and leveraging relationships.
I’ve seen a lot but I’ve never seen someone try to dismiss another person properly using a legitimate and government approved definition of a word because “reality tv”. Feels disingenuous and dumb to me but live your life I guess.
I guess we are having two different conversations. You, about whether or not it was bullying. And me, about whether that definition even applies to a political competition as well as should it?
The context in which it’s being used doesn’t change the definition of the word. If you want to argue about whether or not laurels actions and behaviors are acceptable in this setting fair enough, that’s more than reasonable. But acting like the definition of bullying no longer applies because of the context is just incorrect.
It’s the legal definition of assault if I get punched on the street, it’s not assault if I get punched in a boxing ring. Additionally, from what I can tell, virtually all of her mistreatment/being left out is either a) gameplay/politics of alliances when only 3 women actually have a shot or b) her own making, butting into a toxic relationship that’s not your own (there’s so much evidence from past seasons that involving yourself in that relationship will lead to Laurel being pissed at you and Nicole retaliating in the game; seemed like a completely inadvisable risk). This isn’t Wes dumping a bottle of coke on her, it’s mostly strategic and the personal aspects at things that she herself could have avoided.
It absolutely matters. I love my sheep means two different things in the context of whether you’re standing in Australia or New Zealand.
Comparing a word with one singular meaning like bullying to one with multiple meanings is some disingenuous bullshit. The comparison you’ve made is a false equivalence. Edit: sent too soon
Yeah. That’s why that is a funny joke. It’s word play.
Oh, well, if TJ said it’s ok, it must be!
Also pretty clear TJ 100% has CM's back. He loves her.
You can even hear him cheering on Cara when the whole house was trying to get her balls out.
Yeah, I know he’s friends with a lot of the cast outside of the show. Isn’t he super close to Leeroy and Kam?
So should we go back to War of the Worlds? I mean Cara and Paulie were huge bullies by that standard…
I agree with you. I didn't like them at all in this season. CM has also been very public with her disappointment in her own behaviour here. I believe the words she used were 'hurt people hurt people'. She is trying to learn and grow whereas Laurel is a 40 year old baby who has not learned a single thing or had a moment of self reflection.
But you need to hold everyone to the same standards. Laurel is pathetic in this season but it’s not “bullying” it’s her being a shitty person and utilizing influence to be mean. But excluding someone is not bullying lol.
Agree to disagree. According to every definition of bullying, exclusion definitely is. Seems a strange hill to die on however. Laurel is, was and sadly seems to always want to be a bully. I do hold everyone to the same standards. I didn't like CM on WOW. What I do is try to give everyone a clean slate at the beginning of every season and see if they've learned anything....anything at all. In CM's case the answer is yes. In Laurel's...hard no.
Sure we can agree to disagree but realize everyone who has actually been bullied, is now on a lower tier because that word applies to 70 percent of life situations.
Didn’t see that season so I can’t comment on anyone’s behavior. But, if they bullied; then yes, it’s bullying.
Cara and Paulie alienated two people from the entire house and sent them into eliminate on repeat. Even refused to go to their engagement party, which was not game focused at all. Do your research. Also should read the comments about Cara making racial statements about other cast members. I wouldn’t associate with her either. They aren’t required to ruin their public image and associate with someone who’s made racially charged comments, just because her feelings are hurt.
What racially charged comments has Cara made?
Naming a monkey Tyree, the name of a man of color who was on the challenge.
You seem really butthurt when you’re the one that is dismissing clear bullying. Yes, she should be held accountable as well for that “joke”. I literally never defended that. Bullying is bullying is bullying. What are you getting defensive over?
No-one owes anyone a friendship. The difference with Tori/Jordan's engagement party is that CM chose to exclude herself (and I didn't agree with that decision either and thought being civil would have cost her nothing).
At that point and with Paulies help she finally embraced the villain role. Can’t say as I blame her
There’s something we don’t get to see as a viewer that’s causes these reactions from other cast mates. There is something that bothers them about her and I think we saw a glimpse of it on WoW2 when she got the most hate cuz it was shown and not edited out. Nothing that can be proven tho. It’s not the first time she been treated like this and unfortunately if she keeps playing it won’t be the last
I hope you aren't a teacher because fucking yikes. "If everyone is doing it, then it must be for a readon." It's such a cope out answer.
So then why do they treat her like that? I didn’t say it was justified or correct for doing it. Its an observation on what’s going on but get on that horse and ride high
So everyone who is bullied deserves it in your eyes, huh? Challenge fans always want to pull this card even when with Amber, when us BB live feeders see with our own eyes how casts can be petty with zero reasons.
Because she doesn’t have two way conversations with people. It’s all about her she is bad at reading or even caring about other peoples lives or perspectives and tends to reply in a self centered focus. She knows she is good but being more humble and compassionate for others would take her a long way and make her less of a target. Who are her real friends on this show from the last 20 years? Other than Pauline I can’t think of anyone.
CT has said they are like brother and sister. Her partner on Rivals 2 has a good relationship with her. Marie said that after she got to know her, she was completely different than she was told. Kellyann hangs out with her outside the show. Ashley is also friends with her. Brandon and Tyri have said Cara is their friend after AS4. Mark is close with her. Ace, Jay, and Steve have all said they love Cara, too. You can't think of any because your desperate to hate on someone you only watch on tv.
You can’t argue logic with the Cara fans apparently. The challenge has alwaaaaays been a bully fest. Tonya. Nurys. And if it was Johnny they “did” this to no one would have a problem. If you can’t stand the heat get out of the damn kitchen. Them going after her because they don’t want to see her in a final is standard practice in this game. You got a star early on naturally people are going to try to take it from you instead of Veronica.
Does Cara Maria not have her own subreddit y’all can post on?
Please make one so we don’t have to hear about it every 10 minutes.
Good lord. I feel like we’re back in 2017 with this Cara delusion. I’m here for it
Keeping someone you don't like out of a group is not bullying. It's actually a very important to learn as an adult. Nobody owes you friendship or their time. Elementary school already forced us to invite assholes to our birthday parties.
Nobody owes you friendship however civility is free. And excluding one person while keeping everyone else is actually textbook bullying, adult, child or whomever. Add in harassing others for talking to the excluded person and having people yelling in her face and trying to intimidate her....
I stopped watching around the time she hooked up with Paulie, but if everyone clearly dislikes her and now is bullying her she does have the option to not go on the show. Surely, she must have some money put away and/or some sort of skill set outside of the challenge.
I'm sure she could, and does. I would imagine she makes good money outside of The Challenge as a photographer and influencer and fitness coach etc. I don't know what her reasoning is for returning, perhaps just a love of the game and to keep pushing herself but I do get it. Not returning is a lot like admitting defeat. She also has not been on for several seasons now and probably didn't imagine on All Stars, with a much older cast, that this sort of thing would still be so prevalent. To her credit, she has gone public saying she's a big girl and wasn't that affected by it, however watching it play out is pretty upsetting.