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'Big Brother' Contestant Had Record
By David Bauder
AP Television Writer
Monday, July 16, 2001; 3:47 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK –– The contestant thrown off CBS' "Big Brother" last week for holding a knife to a woman's throat had a record of three assault charges in his hometown.
Justin Sebik's arrest record raised new questions about how thoroughly so-called reality television shows check the backgrounds of their participants to protect other players and the shows' reputations.
Sebik, 26, of Bayonne, N.J., insisted he was only joking when he held the knife to the throat of a female contestant he had been kissing. But producers of the show, where a dozen strangers live together under constant surveillance, said Sebik had already been warned about previous instances of intimidating others.
Sebik's past includes an arrest for assault June 19, 1996, said Jenny Mishane, Bayonne Municipal Court administrator. He also was charged with two counts of assault and two counts of theft on April 2, 1997. She had no details on the cases. All were dismissed on Dec. 16, 1997.
CBS hired a private investigator who checked with the Bayonne court before the show went on the air and was told Sebik had no arrest record, said an executive familiar with the network's procedures who asked not to be identified.
The private investigator went back a second time after the show had gone on the air and was told Sebik's record included only one arrest for theft, the executive said.
"This was a professional background check," CBS spokesman Gil Schwartz said. "It was done well. We have full confidence in the process. Clearly, we're still working on making sure the process is infallible."
Earlier this year, producers of the racy Fox reality show, "Temptation Island," were criticized because their background checks failed to disclose that one of the couples on the show had a child.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010716/aponline154751_001.htm
By David Bauder
AP Television Writer
Monday, July 16, 2001; 3:47 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK –– The contestant thrown off CBS' "Big Brother" last week for holding a knife to a woman's throat had a record of three assault charges in his hometown.
Justin Sebik's arrest record raised new questions about how thoroughly so-called reality television shows check the backgrounds of their participants to protect other players and the shows' reputations.
Sebik, 26, of Bayonne, N.J., insisted he was only joking when he held the knife to the throat of a female contestant he had been kissing. But producers of the show, where a dozen strangers live together under constant surveillance, said Sebik had already been warned about previous instances of intimidating others.
Sebik's past includes an arrest for assault June 19, 1996, said Jenny Mishane, Bayonne Municipal Court administrator. He also was charged with two counts of assault and two counts of theft on April 2, 1997. She had no details on the cases. All were dismissed on Dec. 16, 1997.
CBS hired a private investigator who checked with the Bayonne court before the show went on the air and was told Sebik had no arrest record, said an executive familiar with the network's procedures who asked not to be identified.
The private investigator went back a second time after the show had gone on the air and was told Sebik's record included only one arrest for theft, the executive said.
"This was a professional background check," CBS spokesman Gil Schwartz said. "It was done well. We have full confidence in the process. Clearly, we're still working on making sure the process is infallible."
Earlier this year, producers of the racy Fox reality show, "Temptation Island," were criticized because their background checks failed to disclose that one of the couples on the show had a child.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010716/aponline154751_001.htm
