Big Brother 9 is getting a lot of publicity for CBS this season but so far it has been for all the wrong reasons. One contestant’s past as a gay porn actor is making headlines while an offensive term used by another on the show has lead Lowe’s to yank its advertising during the broadcast.

First, it has been confirmed with only a lazy and totally NSFW search of the internet that house guest “Crazy” James Zinkand has appeared in several gay adult videos prior to the show. The 21-year old Sarasota, Florida man is also reportedly an ex-stripper. No big deal except his bio on the Big Brother 9 website claims he is a single, straight man who was recently engaged to an older woman. This season of Big Brother 9, subtitled ‘Til Death Do You Part has house guests paired up with another person who might be their “soul mate”. (So far it’s not looking like any of the house guests have made a love connection in fact some of them absolutely hate the person they are paired up with.) James’ partner on the show is Chelsia, a college student from Iowa. So far the two of them have gotten along quite well though not romantically.

James past emerged front and center earlier this week when Dirtyboyvideo.com began promoting videos Zinkand made for them on its home page.

The BB9 house did feature a gay couple until earlier this week. California real estate agent Neil Garcia had to leave for a still undisclosed, urgent family matter. The remaining half of that couple, Joshuah from Texas is now paired up with a straight woman named Sharon.

James Zinkand’s bio page on the CBS.com website talks about how he is homeless and attempting to ride his bike across the country with little to no money in his pocket. In the episodes presented so far, he has been portrayed as a mostly mild-mannered character who is not above getting annoyed with fellow house guests and telling them off.

CBS and Endemol Productions say they do extensive background checks on participants. So far neither company has commented on Zinkand’s past or whether they knew about it prior to the show.

Considering the types of contestants who agree to do these full-access type reality shows, it would be hard to screen out people with questionable pasts as long as they aren’t violent.

Just last week, another house guest’s controversial statement about developmentally disabled children stirred up a hornets nest with some Autism groups. That contestant, Adam Jasinski, claims to work as a public relations flak for the United Autism Foundation. A representative from that somewhat mysterious group has since apologized for Jasinski’s words. CBS itself is under fire with many questioning why Big Brother 9 producers allowed the scene where Jasinski uses the word “retards” to even be edited into the show. The group Autism United is still putting pressure on the network to cancel the show and telling CBS advertisers to yank their spots as well.

At least one major advertiser isn’t waiting for any apologies or for any more Big Brother controversy. Home improvement giant, Lowes, says it will no longer place commercials during the broadcast. Big Brother comprises 3 hours each week of CBS prime time programming.