Chris Harrison will not be presenting the next season of “The Bachelorette” for the first time in the franchise’s history, which started as a guilty pleasure when it debuted in 2002, but has been criticized in recent years for its lack of diversity and insensitive treatment of race.
Harrison, 49, will be replaced by Tayshia Adams, who will become the first black woman to host a season on the show, and Kaitlyn Bristowe. Both are ex-Bachelorette leads.
In a statement, Warner Horizon and ABC Entertainment said they supported Harrison “in the work he is committed to doing” and pledged to continue to try to achieve “greater equity and inclusion” within the franchise.
“We are committed to improving the BIPOC representation of our team, including among executive producers,” said Warner Horizon and ABC Entertainment, using an acronym that means Blacks, Indians and people of color. “These are important steps to make fundamental changes so that our franchise is a celebration of the love that reflects our world.”
Harrison announced last month that he was “setting aside” the current season of “The Bachelor” after acknowledging making comments that rejected a competitor’s racist behavior.
The decision to host two women as hostesses also follows years of criticism of the program for portraying women as being obsessed with marriage or as petty and unstable. The show was also pressured for years by many of its fans, members of the “Bachelor Nation”, to include non-white protagonists and more non-white contestants.
Last month, ABC said Emmanuel Quero, a former NFL player and author of the book “Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man”, would present a one-hour post-final special on “The Bachelor” on March 15.
The announcement that Harrison would not feature “The Bachelorette” was the latest development in a tumultuous season, which intended to break through by introducing the first black actor, Matt James, in the “Bachelor” story.
Before James, there were two black protagonists in “The Bachelorette”: Rachel L. Lindsay, who was announced as the protagonist in 2017, and Mrs. Adams, whose father is African American and her mother is Mexican, and who was a replacement recent mid-season.
James ‘season was praised for its diverse cast, but many viewers were dismayed by the producers’ decision to focus on fights between women, rather than building relationships between the contestants and James.
This disappointment turned to outrage as offensive posts on social media and photos of one of the contestants, Rachael Kirkconnell, emerged.
In a post, Ms. Kirkconnell liked a photo with the Confederacy flag. Another photo on social media showed her attending a dance with the theme “Old South” in 2018.
Last month, Harrison defended Ms. Kirkconnell, who is one of the two finalists on the show, when Ms. Lindsay asked him about the ball during an interview on “Extra”. Mr Harrison said that “50 million people did this in 2018”.
“Rachel, are you looking good in 2018 or not looking good in 2021?” Mr. Harrison asked during the interview, suggesting that such parties could be acceptable in 2018.
Ms. Lindsay replied: “It is not a good appearance, ever, because she is celebrating the Old South. If I were to go to this party, what would I represent in it? “
Mr. Harrison, who frequently spoke about Ms. Lindsay during the interview, accused the “awake police” of going after Ms. Kirkconnell and acting as “judge, jury, executor”.
“I don’t know how you’re equipped, when you’ve never done this before, to be awake enough, to be eloquent enough, to be ready to deal with it,” he said.
Mrs. Kirkconnell apologized. Harrison also apologized on Instagram after the interview and said that by excusing historical racism, he defended it.
“I invoked the term ‘woke up the police’, which is unacceptable,” Harrison wrote on Instagram. “I’m ashamed of how uninformed I was. I was so wrong. For the black community, for the BIPOC community: I’m sorry. My words were damaging. “