Chris Harrison Steps Down as Host of 'The Bachelor'
by EG
Chris Harrison has stepped away from his role as host of The Bachelor in the wake of a race-related controversy. Harrison had defended the actions of a contestant who had been accused of racism. Harrison said that Rachael Kirkconnell shouldn't be held responsible for things that she did way back in 2018, saying that we lived in a totally different world three years ago, when no one knew when they were being racist. It's not clear whether Harrison's leave from the show is permanent. Read on for details.
Via Page Six.
Chris Harrison’s girlfriend has taken a stand against him.
Lauren Zima, who has been dating the “Bachelor” host for two years, posted a statement to her Instagram Story after Harrison took a leave from the show this week for “excusing” a contestant’s past racist behavior.
“What Chris said was wrong and disappointing,” Zima, a correspondent on “Entertainment Tonight,” wrote on Saturday. “Defending racism can never happen.”
“Accountability comes first, what’s next is learning and growth.”
Earlier on Saturday, Harrison, 49, announced that he’d be stepping away from the show, which he’s hosted since its inception, and would not be part of the “After the Rose” special at the end of the current season of “The Bachelor.”
“By excusing historical racism, I defended it. I invoked the term ‘woke police,’ which is unacceptable. I am ashamed over how uninformed I was. I was wrong,” he said.
Uproar surrounded Harrison this week after he gave an interview asking fans to give current contestant Rachael Kirkconnell “a little grace, a little understanding” after it came out that she once attended a plantation-themed college party in 2018 and allegedly “liked” racially insensitive social media posts.
Harrison made the comments during an interview for “Extra” with Rachel Lindsay, who was the first black “Bachelorette,” which developed into a heated back-and-forth about race.
In the wake of the controversy, Lindsay, who still works for the “Bachelor” franchise, said she’d be cutting ties with the show.
“I can’t take it anymore,” Lindsay, who in the past has been outspoken about the show’s lack of persity, said on her podcast, “Higher Learning,” on Friday. “I’m contractually bound in some ways. But when it’s up, I am too. I can’t do it anymore.”
Get the rest of the story at Page Six.
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