"I'm not out to appease anybody or say anything to give anybody hugs out there. If anybody wants some hugs they can find it somewhere else," BB19 houseguest Cody Nickson told BuzzFeed News.

CBS Cody Nickson

In two separate instances this summer, Big Brother 19 houseguest Cody Nickson came under fire from fans after he was shown on the live feeds making disparaging comments about transgender individuals. His remarks were never featured on the show itself. First, in July, he repeatedly used the term "trannies" during a conversation with Jessica Graf, another houseguest whom he began to date on the show. When she tried to muffle his mouth, Nickson replied, “What? Tranny? I don’t give a shit. They can tuck away their dicks all they want. Do you really think they’re fucking gonna to come at a Marine Corps infantryman for fucking saying the word tranny?" Then in August, Nickson and another houseguest, rodeo clown Jason Dent, each referred to Big Brother 17 contestant Audrey Middleton, who is transgender, as "it" in conversation. Middleton later released a statement on the incident.

CBS Jason Dent

Following Wednesday night's finale, Dent apologized for using such cruel language. "It was absolutely ignorant," the Iowa native told BuzzFeed News. "I wouldn't know a transgender person if they walked up and shook my hand." Dent went on to say he has absolutely no issue with transgender people and welcomes the opportunity to learn more. "That's how you learn to grow; by getting in those conversations. That's how you become less ignorant." Graf also stressed education while defending Nickson, her maybe-boyfriend. "I think comments like that are made from a lack of information and ignorance of a situation," she told BuzzFeed News. "That's why when Cody was saying 'it' I was rolling my eyes and telling him to stop; not because I think that he was right — I definitely didn't — it's just a lack of information. For example, I don't know anyone that's transgender. That's not me being discriminative against other people. It's just I actually haven't met a transgender human being. I don't fully understand it and I'm sure Cody is the same way and I think with an education on the situation, that ignorance would disappear and statements like that wouldn't be made." However, when asked if he agreed with Graf's assessment, Nickson dismissed the idea outright. "People are going to love me or hate me and it doesn't matter; I can't do anything about it," he told BuzzFeed News. "I have a very close-knit group of people in my life that I love and I need to get close to after this. Beyond that, I'm not out to appease anybody or say anything to give anybody hugs out there. If anybody wants some hugs they can find it somewhere else."

CBS The cast of Big Brother 19.