Chris Harrison’s girlfriend took a stand against him.
Lauren Zima, who has been dating the ‘Bachelor’ host for two years, posted a statement in her Instagram story after Harrison took leave this week to ‘excuse’ a contestant’s racist behavior.
“What Chris said was wrong and disappointing,” Zima, a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight, wrote on Saturday. “The defense of racism can never happen.”
“Accountability comes first, next is learning and growing.”
Earlier Saturday, Harrison, 49, announced he would retire from the show, which he has hosted since its inception, and will not be participating at the end of the current season of ‘The The’ After the Rose ‘. Bachelor. ”
‘By excusing historical racism, I defended it. I called the term ‘awake police’, which is unacceptable. I’m ashamed of how uninformed I was. “I was wrong,” he said.
Uproar surrounded Harrison this week after conducting an interview and asking fans to give the current contestant, Rachael Kirkconnell, a little grace, a little understanding, after it came to light that she was once in 2018 attended a college party with a plantation theme and allegedly had a “race” -sensitive “hold”. social media posts.
Harrison commented during an interview for ‘Extra’ with Rachel Lindsay, who was the first black ‘Bachelorette’ to develop into a fierce back-and-forth race.
In the wake of the controversy, Lindsay, who still works for the ‘Bachelor’ franchise, said she would cut ties with the show.
“I can no longer,” Lindsay, who has spoken out in the past about the program’s lack of diversity, said on her podcast “Higher Learning” on Friday. ‘I’m contractually bound in certain ways. But if it’s up, so am I. I can no longer do that. ”
Kirkconnell, 24, also apologized this week, saying: “At one point I did not realize how offensive and racist my actions were, but it did excuse them. My age or when it happened does not excuse anything. It is in no sense acceptable or good. I was ignorant, but my ignorance was racist. ”
But her fellow participants made their own statement, saying they “denounce any defense of racism.”
The current season of ABC’s long-running program features Matt James, the first black ‘Bachelor’.