UPDATED 4/12/25, 3:16 p.m. ET: After facing backlash for his comments on Pop the Balloon, Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio insisted that he was addressing a white contestant, not a Black woman.
"I was actually talking about the WHITE girl whose toes were hanging over her shoes who is literally dressed like a fucking tree!" Devenanzio tweeted on Friday.
The Challenge alum faced backlash after appearing on the Netflix reboot of the YouTube dating show. In a viral clip from the show, Devenanzio addressed multiple contestants who were standing in a line before appearing to point to a Black woman's feet.
"You look like you sleep in a tree upside down," he said as the camera zoomed in on the Black woman.
"It’s wild how fast some people can twist a moment into a false narrative," he tweeted. "There’s real racism out there, weaponizing fake outrage for clicks cheapens it."
See original story below.
Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio didn’t mince his words on a recent episode of Netflix's Pop the Balloon.
When asked by hostess Yvonne Orji, “Who on the stage would have been your type,” Bananas says he’s “going to start with toes.”
After pointing to a couple of the contestants, remarking that they have “really pretty toes,” he lands on a Black woman, whom he tells, “You look like you sleep from a tree upside down.”
“Me?” the woman asks. “Oh, you don’t want this smoke from me, Johnny. Was he talking about me?”
"How these toes going to help you build a home?” Orji asks.
“You need good toes to build a home,” Johnny says. “You need strong hands and good toes.”
Netflix’s remake of the popular YouTube series debuted on April 10. In addition to Johnny Bananas, notable guests include Chase DeMoor, Farrah Abraham, and Zaina Sesay.
Charles Barkley also played his own version of Pop the Balloon on NBA on TNT earlier this week, which saw all but one woman popping their balloon. After flinching from the balloons, Barkley said, "Wow. That was rude!"