Bachelor‘s Chris Harrison Apologizes for ‘Perpetuating Racism’ in Interview About Contestant’s Past Photos
Chris Harrison, who has hosted The Bachelor for 25 seasons, is used to putting the reality show’s stars and contestants in the hot seat. But thanks to some comments he made in a recent interview with Rachel Lindsay, the franchise’s first Black Bachelorette, now he is feeling the heat of public opinion and apologizing.
“To my Bachelor Nation family — I will always own a mistake when I make one, so I am here to extend a sincere apology,” Harrison said in a tweet Wednesday night. “While I do not speak for Rachael Kirkconnell, my intentions were simply to ask for grace in offering her an opportunity to speak on her own behalf. What I now realize I have done is cause harm by wrongly speaking in a manner that perpetuates racism and for that I am so deeply sorry.”
In case you missed the offense, Harrison opened his mouth and inserted his foot during a recent Extra interview that Lindsay hosted. During the segment, Lindsay and Harrison discussed photos of Season 25 contestant Kirkconnell — currently vying for the heart of Matt James, the franchise’s first Black Bachelor — attending an Antebellum party three years ago. She has since taken the photos off of social media and disabled the comments option. Because of the painful and racist history the pre-Civil War Antebellum South and slavery triggers, many have shunned romanticizing the era and its images.
Instead of saying something about the problematic nature that Kirkconnell’s past racial insensitivities create, Harrison defended her reputation and lambasted what he called “cancel culture.”
“This ‘judge, jury, executioner’ thing where people are just tearing this girl’s life apart and diving into her parents’ voting record … it’s unbelievably alarming to watch this,” a visibly frustrated Harrison told Lindsay. “You know, I saw a picture of her at a sorority show five years ago, and that’s it.”
But Lindsay didn’t let Harrison or Kirkconnell shirk their accountability that easily: “Well, the picture was from 2018 at an old South/Antebellum party, so that’s not a good look.”
Harrison then questioned Lindsay if cancel culture made Kirkconnell’s actions unacceptable in 2018 or now, and Lindsay, who used to be an attorney, stood her ground.
“It’s not a good look ever,” she said, before emphasizing the slavery component in regards to being Black. “She’s celebrating the old South. If I went to that party, what would I represent?”
However, Harrison never conceded his point, and fans of The Bachelor didn’t appreciate his cultural obtuseness.
“We can leave grace and space for learning while still demanding accountability,” tweeted Huffington Post reporter Emma Gray. “I feel like [Chris Harrison] expresses more empathy for people who romanticize the confederacy than people who are harmed by white supremacy in this clip. So disappointing.”
UPDATE: Kirkconnell posted her own apology on Instagram on Thursday, acknowledging that her actions were “offensive and racist” and stating that “they are not acceptable or okay in any sense. I was ignorant, but my ignorance was racist.” She added that she is “ashamed about my lack of education, but it is no one’s responsibility to educate me,” and she pledged to “put my energy towards preventing people from making the same offensive mistakes that I made in the first place, and I hope I can prove this to you moving forward.”
Our country is dying thanks to twitter and facebook
No, the country’s been ailing for a very, very long time. That’s just now being revealed by/broadcast on twitter and facebook.
So you have a problem with racism being called out?
The problem with cancel culture is that most of the people calling out someone has done equal or far worse themselves.
Proof?
Yes! This as well! Everyone has made mistakes. No one is perfect. Everyone wants to cast stones at everyone else without considering their own behaviors past and present.
I guess Harrison’s fault was in treating her like an individual, feeling person instead of as a political football..And if she’s such a racist, I find it downright shocking that she would sign up to date the first black bachelor. Insidious!!
Anytime anybody say something “Isn’t a good look”, it makes my skin crawl, but maybe that’s just me. A style of dress doesn’t have to be indicative of a celebration of slavery or white supremacy. Sometimes it’s just people wearing fancy clothes. Unless somebody tells me she had an internship with the KKK, I’m apt to let it pass.. And if you’re having a panic attack because you saw somebody dressed like Vivian Leigh in Gone With the Wind, then maybe you’ve got other issues in your life and should seek help.
I agree with you. And Pat just above too.
Add me in as well
I don’t think she is a racist. I think she got invited to a ball , once called an old south party, that fraternity boys and sorority girls all wanted to be invited to. Up until 2016 the young men wore confederate uniforms. So it’s not just a fancy party. We shouldn’t call for cancellation but show people it’s not just fun and games. It wasn’t a golden age. It was brutal and harsh. A whole race of people were beat down literally. I had family that were slaves. I can’t trace my grandfather’s family because he was born in Tennessee of slaves. There are no records past a certain point.
Let’s stop name calling and work at being better. Okay we can say she didn’t know. Fine. Let’s work to teach her and others why and not just slam them.
We all have to be better.
@Dee
Thank you! Very well said.
Dee,
It’s interesting. I went to Duke university back in the 1980s and there was a fraternity there, I think it was KA. They had a history of not admitting members who were of African dissent. That all changed in 1981/82 and they admitted their first black fraternity member. That fraternity was also known for having an annual dance or ball or Cotillion where the fraternity brothers wore confederate uniforms and their dates wore antebellum dresses. Instead of stopping that practice, they continued and the black fraternity brother wore a confederate uniform to the ball. I’m sure that horrified a lot of people that he chose to wear that uniform, but it was seen as groundbreaking 40 years ago. Now of course, Duke is one of the more liberal schools in our country. I only thought of that memory when I read your message. Thanks for writing what you did
I’m not saying she is or is not racist, but I will say sleeping with a black dude does not make one NOT racist. Also, I was in a sorority in college and went to mixers and Formal every year which is an event where you dress up in fancy clothes—we wore fancy dresses, not themed plantation costumes, which I don’t think is typical party attire. The theme wasn’t “fancy”, it was Antebellum south. You can have an opinion about whether it was racist or not, but you can’t say that the theme didn’t exist.
I don’t watch the show, but they must be defending her because she win’s the final rose! lol
Good grief! This “cancel culture” has gotten out of hand. People aren’t even allowed to express their opinion or speak openly any longer. Free Speech in this country (one of its founding principles) doesn’t exist any more.
“Free” speech is almost never free. The only thing the 1st Amendment protects you from is government reprisals. Everything else is fair game, especially by your employer.
What goes around, comes around. The self-righteous who call out every infraction will one day get their comeuppance.
This is getting so ridiculous!! Chris nor the woman did anything wrong! People are so quick to tear others apart for absolutely nothing.
The absurdity of everything going on with this is ridiculous. Chris was right in the first place that it was just a party! The 2018 comments were odd because it wasn’t really that long ago, but it was just a party! From what I have read about the premise of the sorority, yeah that’s not okay. Though lets remember it’s been around for God knows how many years, and the universities would have to remove them. But the kids who join them…they just want to join a sorority and go to parties like that. They just want the excuse to dress up in those fancy ballgowns. Do you really think they are at all thinking about the meaning behind it? No!!! Rachael did not do anything actually racist, and Chris is simply pointing that out! The way people are behaving over it is over the top and ridiculous. Everyone has to make everything about race nowadays when it’s not. And it actually just creates more division instead of removing it. Good job y’all!
Thank you!!!
This is insane – he has nothing to apologize for!
This is all BS. It’s a part of history, right or wrong, we can learn from it, but all I see it doing is pissing everyone off and causing division. We all have different cultures, but everyone needs to get over it!!