876 Roommates director opens up on Tavii and World Dawg fight

In what was certainly reality TV gold, Episode 7 of popular new comedy series, 876 Roommates, came to a grand climax with a real fight between two of the show's jesters - World Dawg and Kyng Tavii.

The episode trended on Twitter from Monday night and continued into Tuesday, with some persons blasting the producers for the behind-the-scenes violence, instead of the comedy that was promised.

Additionally, Episode 7 dropped totally free on YouTube, rather than through the First In Line Entertainment platform, where it can be viewed as a paid subscription for one hour, uncensored. Subscribers had initially paid US$30 for the entire season, after which the price was reduced to US$14 in August.

"This was the most anticipated episode of the entire series and we were able to secure sponsorship. Young Tycoon Family reached out to us and paid for it, and that's why we put it on YouTube. But we will not be dropping any more episodes. Before the show premiered, we promoted it on CVM for locals. It is via subscription for our viewers outside of Jamaica, in particular, and that aspect of it is going well," director Carlington Silburn explained.

876 Roommates is also aired on television weekly, but as a half-hour show.

SUPPORT VIOLENCE

With regards to the World Dawg/Kyng Tavii clash, the producers had put out a disclaimer: "876 Roommates does not support violence in any way. This is a reality TV show and, unfortunately, the cast had an altercation, which was previously publicised and is now shown in this episode."

Silburn is dismissing any suggestions of wrongdoing on the part of the producers as it relates to the fight.

"We see fights on the American reality series all the while and people don't have a problem with it. In fact, they love it. When Spice first started out on Love and Hip Hop she used to get into fights regularly with another cast member, so why is this an issue?" he quizzed.

He noted that at first nobody on the set took the altercation, which played out on the bus seriously, and also defended the cameraman being on spot, because that was his job.

"We have one cameraman specifically for behind the scenes. He was with World Dawg and he is usually with him because World Dawg has the vibes. World Dawg is seen as the star and he was invited to be cast member. He didn't have to audition like the others," Silburn said.

"I was actually the person who shot that fight scene because where I was sitting I had a better view than the cameraman. The fight took so long to defuse because nobody took it seriously at first. It was when they stood up in each other's face that we realised where it was heading. By the time Tavii took out Kimi's wig scissors out of her bag, about 10 man did done pull off World Dawg already and Hat Dog and the cameraman were blocking Tavii," he added.

Silburn emphasised that there will be no more fights on 876 Roommates, and added that Tavii left the show after Episode 7, never to return.

Six more episodes remain to be aired before Season 1 comes to a close.