Rachel Lindsay Says She Officially Will Not Be Renewing Her Contract With The Bachelor Franchise
Former “The Bachelorette” star Rachel Lindsay has spoken out about her interview with Chris Harrison, which has led to considerable blowback this week, regarding the host’s controversial commentary surrounding race.
Lindsay says she will not be renewing her contract with “The Bachelor” franchise when it’s up. She currently hosts a Bachelor Nation podcast, and is part of “The Bachelor” family with cameo appearances on-screen in various episodes throughout seasons.
“I’m fucking tired. I’m exhausted. I have truly had enough,” Lindsay said on the Feb. 12 episode of Van Lathan’s “Higher Learning” podcast where she spoke extensively about the Harrison interview.
Rachel Lindsay's announcement is the latest development within the BOAT LOAD of real life drama for ABC/The Bachelor this week. Lets do some bullet points to catch up:
- Rachel Lindsay is a former Bachelorette (2017), and was the first black lead in franchise history.
- Since her season, she's been working with ABC/The Bachelor as a podcast host, friend of the program, and more heavily this past year, a leading black voice exposing the lack of diversity within the Bachelor franchise, all while she is still under contract with ABC.
- A girl on the current season with Matt James, Rachael Kirkconnell, has been exposed (through Tiktok) for having a questionable past, which I posted below.
- Chris Harrison stood up for this girl when Rachel (Lindsay) questioned why she hadn't made a statement regarding these allegations. Remember, the current Bachelor, Matt James, is the first black MALE lead in franchise history. Rachael (Kirkconnell) is still on his current season, fighting for his love.
- Chris Harrison BOMBED this interview with Rachel (Lindsay), coming across like an old, out of touch, racially insensitive white guy. It takes a lot for me to talk shit about Chris Harrison, but Jesus Christ this interview was a nightmare. It's as if he hadn't had 20+ years of media training under his belt. I'll link the interview below.
- After this RIDICULOUS deflection by Chris, he apologized publicly. A day later, Rachael (Kirkconnell) finally put out a statement of her own, after her family members were leaking that ABC was trying to prevent her from making any statements. The rumors are that Rachael (Kirkconnell) goes far into Matt's season, and possibly wins, which would be why Chris Harrison is defending her so hard. I think they want the ratings of a "white girl who grew up in a racist town, is now learning not to be racist with her new black boyfriend." This may seem like a stretch, but I've seen Chris Harrison talk shit about/completely exile people with MUCH less problematic drama surrounding them. It seems like the only reason, other than the possibility that he's lost his mind.
- Rachel (Lindsay) is finally done playing the role of "educator" for all these white people, and she wants out.
That's pretty much it. I can't say I blame her in the slightest. Personally, I didn't mind Rachel's season, she seems to be happy with Brian still. I also can't deny how she was mistreated by Chris Harrison. She tries very hard to toe the line when it comes to race-related issues, and at a place like ABC/The Bachelor, she's the loudest voice for people of color. As a white bitch myself, I don't know what the solution is to this, and I'm not going to preach like I do. I think ABC made a REALLY HUGE mistake not nipping this in the bud immediately, and dragging it out. If it comes out that this was all ratings driven, they're going to look like total monsters. Which fucking sucks. ABC/The Bachelor is my shit. I hope they start shoveling the coal 10x faster into this apology train, and that they really mean it.
Here's the Rachael Kirkconnell Tiktok that started it all
Here's Chris's interview with Rachel Lindsay
Anddd his apology
And now Rachael Kirkconnell's apology.
MAMMA MIA. I'm exhausted too, and it isn't even about me.