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Even Hough responded to the criticisms, writingon Instagramthat she is deeply listening with an open heart and mind.
Hogan said she was ultimately offered a spot on the series in mid-June, which she declined.
How did all of this start?I received an email to my inbox.
Ive done panels and speaking engagements with them and only ever had positive experiences.
They asked if I would apply.
Then you had a first call with someone where the responses to your questions were evasive.
The thing that really struck me was the evasiveness.
I would ask a question like, Whats the ultimate purpose of the show?
Whats the end goal?
How do you want to mobilize people out of this?
And they couldnt really tell me anything.
I put that down to two things.
But also, Ive not done anything like this before.
I do a lot of panels and speaking engagements and workshops, but never TV.
They asked me a lot of questions, but werent really willing to respond to any of mine.
In my mind, an interview is a two-way exchange, and its about knowledge seeking.
Initially, it seemed pretty straightforward.
And he just looked increasingly irritated over the course of my response, which is not a usual reaction.
He kept asking me to go back to this moment.
But it reached a point that I literally started crying on-camera.
In this instance, it felt like something that was being forced out of me.
And the moment I burst into tears, he looked really satisfied.
A few moments later, he was like, Yes, thats perfect.
He asked a few more questions, and they were very cringey.
Hes like, No, no, no.
We need the sound bite.
Youre talking like too much of smart person.
Talk like an American.
At this point, I was getting pissed off.
Having to turn that into some narrative for someone elses purpose is difficult.
I kept saying to him, Ive attended protests, but my activism has always been behind the scenes.
Im not a community mobilizer.
Thats a very different thing.
What is the purpose of this?
It was only at that point that they talked about this being a competition show.
One of his final questions was, Why should you win this competition?
I was completely blindsided.
I was like, Wait, hold up.
What do you mean, competition?
There has to be a clear winner.
Up until this point, everything they alluded to was a platform for activists.
The purpose was to bring attention to the issues.
It was about collaboration, bringing passionate people together.
On Twitter, you compared it to an episode ofBlack Mirror.
Even in the weeks following, I kept questioning or doubting myself.
I was like,Maybe it wasnt really that bad.
The production company hadnt been willing to cover his costs and remunerate him for his time.
I feel for the people who have gone through this process right until the end.
Im glad you mentioned that.
When people talk about activism, a lot of it is about who has power in certain situations.
They think its a good idea to have Usher and Priyanka as these judges.
If youre actually genuine about assessing an activist thats already a gross concept.
But get a frigging activist on the show.
Get someone with influence in that space.
I have a team and an organization around me.
We have a much better impact when we work from that place of intersectional environmentalism and togetherness and community.
That was the initial appeal from me when they reached out with this opportunity.
And I was so blindsided when he said, How would you go about winning this competition?
Were in a culture that prioritizes consumption and competition over collaboration and community.
It promotes doing this for all the wrong reasons.
Hold these companies and interests accountable.
The conversation starts with this, but it shouldnt end with it.
Our final goal shouldnt just be to cancel a TV show.
It should be much bigger commentary around whats not right with the entertainment industry.
Why activism is so under-resourced.
Id love for this to be that catalyst.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
