BB28Aug 17, 2:09 PM

Emergency Update: Devens Uses the Diamond Veto—Dee Off, Kamu On

Yash remains HOH and held the regular veto, but Rick Devens used a secret Diamond POV to pull Dee off and named Kamu as the replacement. Final nominees are Angela, Haley, and Kamu; Dee is safe, while the Blockbuster and vote remain unresolved. Devens says the move was for the Mosh Pit group and to protect his number one, though it could send him and Dee deep or leave them exposed next week. Yash is already pitching an “easy 6” to keep Kamu, but has no confirmed votes. Taylor and Haley expected Lala to go up, leaving the house scrambling to reassess.

This morning's note said the official board still hadn't moved: Yash HOH, Yash holding the regular veto, Angela, Dee, and Haley on the block, with two plans hanging in the air. Both plans just resolved at once. At Monday's veto meeting, Yash sat on the regular veto—and Rick Devens stood up with a Diamond Power of Veto, pulled Dee off the block, and named Kamu as the replacement himself.

Final nominees: Angela, Haley, Kamu. Dee is safe.

The meeting

Feeds cut to animals around 11:30 AM Monday, August 17, which social clocked as the ceremony start. They came back at 12:50 PM with the story already told: Dee wearing the veto necklace and Lala summing it up as "that was crazy." A minute later Dee delivered the line of the day—"It's a beautiful day to be safe"—and thanked Devens directly. Updater accounts confirmed the mechanics: Yash did not use the regular veto, Devens used the Diamond POV on Dee, and Devens—not Yash—named Kamu.

No, we don't have the nomination speech. Feeds were down for the whole meeting, and we're not going to invent a table quote.

What we do have is the emotional readout. By 12:52 PM Dee was telling Devens the other side—she named Kamu, Yash, and Haley—was fake-happy and seething underneath. "Time to go to war." Devens's own math, to Dee: this either sends the two of them far or puts them out next week. Barrett offered a "Thank you Rick Devens," and Devens admitted he wanted to run around celebrating but was holding it in.

Why Kamu

Devens telegraphed the move this morning—hammock camera-talk at 10:04 AM about having only a few moments to make moves, refusing to float, taking care of his number 1 (Dee), and repping the new Mosh Pit alliance—but he never named Kamu on feeds before the ceremony. Sunday night he'd told Moshpit he'd blow up Yash/Kamu for the group while also calling Kamu a friend and floating Yash/Taylor/Lala as future block options, so no, that list wasn't a locked plan.

The post-hoc explanation, in Devens's own words: at 1:39 PM he told Melody and Drew he was personally good with Yash and Kamu, and "this was for the group more than me." Between 1:45 and 1:48 PM he told Angela he'd wanted the seven together before the vote and that he's a bigger shield for her now, and told Mallory he deliberately kept the power secret and waited until the alliance was formed to prove he was down for it. Mallory's review: awesome, good work.

The house was guessing wrong right up until feeds returned. Taylor at 12:55 PM was openly surprised the renom wasn't Lala—her read, per social: "He's a gamer, he's going after the big competitors." Haley said the same at 12:58 PM; she'd expected Lala, and now it's "a good fight." Drew's post-hoc read: Dee would have had a better chance beating Kamu—house theory, not Devens's stated reason.

Fallout, fast

Yash is already campaigning. From 1:04 PM he pitched Barrett and Mallory on an "easy 6" to keep Kamu, arguing Devens using the power on Dee proves those two are locked and the house gained information. He said he won't fight for Haley ("abrasive") but will for Kamu, and by 1:12 PM was hoping Kamu wins Blockbuster—worst case they "gain Haley." That's a pitch, not a vote count. The Blockbuster hasn't happened.
Dee and Kamu cleared the air—sort of. From 1:07 PM in the Have-Not room, Dee asked why, if Kamu is so close to Yash, he never warned her she was going up. Kamu's defense: he never exposed her power. They later said they cleared the air. Haley asked Kamu about the exchange; he downplayed it.
The power's paper trail. At 1:28 PM Yash asked Devens directly when he got it: week 2, after Angela, per Devens. Angela's response was mostly a groan—why couldn't she have gotten the veto. At 1:42 PM Devens said he'd have gladly held the veto and played it on himself, but expiration talk was 1 or 2 weeks—so he used it today. That's house talk; we're not filling in official twist rules beyond what they said.
Drew's read at 1:41 PM: he's downplaying around others, and Yash is in the dark—thinks he still has Barrett, Drew, Lala, and Taylor. Drew also noted Yash doesn't seem mad at Devens. Interpretation, labeled as such.

The board

Week 6 HOH: Yash
Regular veto: Yash — not used
Diamond POV: Devens — used on Dee; Devens named Kamu as replacement
Final nominees: Angela, Haley, Kamu

Still open: the Blockbuster, which can pull one of the three off the wire, and the actual vote. Yash's "easy 6" is a hope, not a headcount. Full afternoon digest to follow.

Receipts