Steve is the adorable kid sibling of the Big Brother house this season, which makes it so difficult to watch him get picked on and bullied. Steve's Big Brother 17 bullying started in Week 1, when the truly awful Jace sat him in a room and berated him for 20 minutes to try and get Steve on his side. Since then, Steve has gotten passive comments about his nerdiness from the likes of Austin and others, but for the most part, any anti-Steve actions have been purely game moves with no ill will or cruel words. But if everyone loves Steve, why is Vanessa swearing at him behind closed doors?
Steve was a victim of circumstance, as he was thrown under the bus by Austin who said that Steve was the mastermind behind the five-person alliance trying to get Vanessa out (when in reality his only contribution to the alliance was bringing John as another member). Vanessa became very passive-aggressive towards Steve, and once she got the chance to be alone with him, accused him of starting the alliance, called him a m*therf*cker, and left the room before he had the chance to respond. You can see the upsetting exchange in the video below.
After the argument, Steve asked Austin in front of everyone "Did I orchestrate a five-person alliance?" to which Austin replied "Exsqueeze me?" (Ugh.) Austin threw Steve under the bus and stated that Steve did start the alliance, and now it appears that former partners Vanessa and Steve are enemies.
Vanessa's behavior is not at all surprising, as she has previously used similar tactics against other houseguests (and followed through by sending them home). What is surprising is that Steve is the target, and also that Vanessa approaches him with such immense vitrol. She gets upset that Steve doesn't fully trust her (even though she has shown that she can't be trusted), and begins taunting him by repeating "Was it you?" to him and saying "You can at least have the balls to admit it," when he denies having started the alliance.It's typical of a bully (and in this case, Vanessa) to have made up their mind before entering a conversation. Vanessa didn't listen to anything he had to say, insulted him, and left before he had a chance to respond. Vanessa ensured that she would win the "argument" by making sure he didn't have a chance to speak. It's almost as if she's attempting to gaslight Steve into thinking he did start the alliance.
The only positive from all this is the outpouring of love for Steve that has come from social media. Steve is one of the most likable, sweet gentlemen in the house and it's so painful to watch him get dragged through the mud by someone who hasn't made a single honest connection or friendship in this entire game. (I mean, it is a reality show and it's not about making friends, but it doesn't mean you have to make so many enemies).
It seems that a while after the fight, tension between the two had calmed down to the point where Vanessa and Steve were on speaking terms again. Hopefully if Steve ends up staying this week, he can get in a position of power and start making Vanessa feel sorry that she was ever mean to him.
For more on this season of Big Brother, check out Bustle's podcast The Diary Room below.
Image: CBS
