“Bachelor” host Chris Harrison takes a step back and recalls a recent interview that rocked Bachelor Nation.
On Tuesday, the longtime emcee appeared on Extra in an interview with former “Bachelorette” Rachel Lindsay, the show’s first black female protagonist. In the interview, he defended current contestant Rachael Kirkconnell after photos surfaced of her attending an “Old South” theme on a plantation in 2018.
In a statement on Wednesday, Harrison, 49, apologized for his words.
“I have this incredible platform to speak about love, and yesterday I took a position on topics that I should have better informed. While I am not speaking on behalf of Rachael Kirkconnell, my intention was simply to ask for mercy by giving her a chance. offer to speak on her behalf, ”he wrote.
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“What I now realize I have done is to harm by speaking incorrectly in a way that perpetuates racism, and I’m so sorry for that. I also apologize to my friend Rachel Lindsay for not listening to her better on a topic where they have a firsthand understanding of and humbly thank the members of Bachelor Nation who contacted me to hold me accountable, “Harrison concluded.” I promise to do better. “
Chris Harrison apologized for “speaking in a way that perpetuates racism.”
(ABC / Craig Sjodin)
Kirkconnell’s photo controversy doesn’t stop with the plantation photos, either. A user on Reddit uploaded an image of Kirkconnell dressed in a Native American costume and she is accused on TikTok of bullying a former high school classmate “for loving black guys”.
Kirkconnell has not commented publicly on the photos. She is currently competing for first black “Bachelor” leader Matt James’ last rose and is a front runner in the season.
Rachael Kirkconnell and Matt James on a date during ‘The Bachelor’.
(ABC / Craig Sjodin)
On Extra, Harrison and Lindsay debated the seriousness of the photos. “This is, again, where we all need a little bit of grace, a little bit of understanding, and a little bit of compassion,” he said. “I haven’t heard Rachael talk about this yet. And until I really hear this woman speak, who am I to say this? ‘
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Lindsay pointed out that the photo was “from 2018 at a pre-war party in Old South … that doesn’t look good.”
Harrison argued, “Well, Rachel does it look good in 2018? Or does it not look good in 2021? Because there is a big difference.”
“It never looks good,” Lindsay said, “because she’s celebrating the Old South. If I went to that party, what would I represent at that party? ‘
“You’re 100% right in 2021. That wasn’t the case in 2018,” Harrison said, “I just know, I don’t know, 50 million people did that in 2018 … That was kind of a party where a lot people went. And again, I’m not defending it; I didn’t go there. We’re not looking under the same lens. “
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Lindsay reasoned, “that’s the problem … we didn’t see through that lens and we should have been. And just because it was a popular party, you know, doesn’t necessarily make it right.”