‘The Bachelor’ Producers Acknowledge Racism in the Franchise, Say They ‘Did Not Protect’ First Black Bachelor Matt James
After seasons of silence, the executive producers of ABC’s “The Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” franchise have addressed the history of racism surrounding the reality dating series in an extensive interview with the L.A. Times.
Executive producers Claire Freeland and Bennett Graebner discussed (among many things) the franchise’s lack of diversity and inclusion, the show’s failure to protect the stars of its series and the inability to create a space to discuss and actually use the word “racism” in context on-camera. This conversation happened just days before the July 8 premiere of the newest season of “The Bachelorette” (which cast Jenn Tran, the first Asian woman to spearhead the show).
“It’s hard to say out loud, that people of color didn’t see themselves represented, that they did not see ‘The Bachelor’ franchise as a safe place,” Graebner said. “We didn’t have a Black lead in this franchise for 15 years, and that’s inexcusable. It created a vicious cycle, and it’s taken a lot of work to get back to a place where we feel at least we’re working for the positive.”
The producers admitted they were disappointed in how the series handled Matt James’ season in particular. In 2020, James was cast as the first Black lead of “The Bachelor,” his historic season soon became swept up in controversy after photos of frontrunner Rachael Kirkconnell at an Old South-themed fraternity formal resurfaced on a plantation.
Former host Chris Harrison also became involved after he made insensitive statements minimizing the damage to the photos in an interview with the first Black Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay. Harrison then left the franchise after hosting for nearly 20 years.
“I’m going to be really frank — we let Matt down,” Graebner said. “That season went wrong on so many levels. We did not protect him as we should have. The finale of that season was the darkest day I’ve had on this franchise. Here was this great Black man, and we should have been celebrating his love story. Instead, what we saw was a man burdened and overwhelmed by issues of racism. It was really sad for me personally.”
Freeland and Graebner said it is a “priority” to cast a Black Bachelor in the near future and to correct mistakes made during James’ season.
More recently, during the “Women Tell All” episode of this past year’s season of “The Bachelor,” contestant Rachel Nance detailed the racism she faced on social media after her Hometown episode. Nance, who is Filipino, Black and Arab, said she got a storm of racist messages online after the episode aired.
Current host of the franchise Jesse Palmer apologized to Nance, stating: “I’m so, so sorry that you and your family had to go through that.” He avoided using the word racism and asked the audience to put up their hands if they had ever received hate on social media.
When asked about the handling of Nance’s experience with racism online, Freeland said: “We have reflected on it, and a big blind spot was not naming what it was: racism. That was another missed opportunity for us. Our intention was to bring light toward what Rachel was going through. But we have to do better.”
“We’re not always going to get it right,” Graebner added. “We’re going to make mistakes as we move forward. But we’re not going to shy away from difficult conversations.”
