The Bachelorette ex-wife Rachel Lindsay, who became the first black star of the ABC reality franchise, now says she will not renew her Bachelor contract when it expires, as the outage of a current continues Bachelor contestant’s controversial photos and Chris Harrison’s response to them.
‘I am tired. I am tired. I really had enough, ”Lindsay said of her on Friday’s episode. Higher learning podcast with Van Lathan. ‘How much more do I want to be connected to this? … I said I was going to leave if they did not have color lines. Okay, they did, and they made some other changes. They hired a diversity consultant. Who did not attend the class? Did Chris Harrison not get through it? … I can not anymore. I am contractually bound in some ways. But if it’s up, so am I. ‘
Lindsay refers to a Extra interview she conducted with Harrison, during which they recently discussed photos of current contestant Rachael Kirkconnell – who was attending an Antebellum party three years ago. (Because of the painful and racist history caused by the Antebellum-South-Civil War and slavery, many people withheld the time and images of it to romanticize.) “It’s’ judge, jury, executioner ‘thing where people just tear up the girl’s life and dive into her parents’ voice record … it’s incredibly worrying to see it.”
After a severe setback, Harrison apologized: “What I now realize I have done is to do harm by speaking wrong in a way that perpetuates racism, and I’m so sorry about that.” Lindsay says he also apologized to her personally, “but I really have a lot of trouble reasoning, or I really want to accept and accept this apology.” She remembers that he talked about me and about me during my conversation … He never gave me space to talk. And he never gave me space to share my perspective. He did not try to hear it … I felt he had an agenda he was trying to pursue. ‘
Kirkconnell apologized for the photos, acknowledging that her actions were “offensive and racist” and saying “they are in no way acceptable or good. I was ignorant, but my ignorance was racist. She promised to ‘put my energy into preventing people from making the same offensive mistakes that I made in the first place’. This season’s other Bachelor participants also issued a joint statement saying that “we are deeply disappointed and want to make it clear that we are exposing any defense of racism,” adding that they stand with Lindsay, “we hear her, and we plead for change with her. “
Lindsey, who made her Bachelor debut as a contestant on Nick Viall’s season, was later named the next star of The Bachelorette in 2017 and becomes the first black person to play in one of the two issues of the long-term franchise, which appeared on ABC in 2002. She picks Bryan Abasolo as the winner of her season, and the two were married in 2019. Bachelor shows since, and currently hosts for the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast with fellow alum Becca Kufrin.