Chris Harrison’s girlfriend took a stand against him.
Lauren Zima, who has been dating the “Bachelor” host for two years, posted a statement in her story on Instagram after Harrison left the show this week for “excusing” a competitor’s previous racist behavior.
“What Chris said was wrong and disappointing,” wrote Zima, correspondent for “Entertainment Tonight”, on Saturday. “The defense of racism can never happen.”
“Responsibility comes first, what comes next is learning and growth”.
Earlier on Saturday, Harrison, 49, announced that he would step aside from the show, which he has featured since the beginning, and would not be part of the “After the Rose” special at the end of the current season of “The Bachelor. ”
“Excusing historical racism, I defended it. I invoked the term ‘policeman awake’, which is unacceptable. I’m ashamed of how uninformed I was. I was wrong, ”he said.
The confusion 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 was reported that she once attended a college-themed party. planting in 2018 and reportedly “liked” racially insensitive publications on social media.
Harrison made the comments during an interview for “Extra” with Rachel Lindsay, who was the first black “Bachelorette”, who developed into a heated race.
In the wake of the controversy, Lindsay, who still works for the “Bachelor” franchise, said he would cut ties with the program.
“I can’t take it anymore,” Lindsay, who in the past spoke openly about the program’s lack of diversity, said in her podcast, “Higher Education”, on Friday. “I am contractually bound in some ways. But when everything is ready, I am too. I can’t do this anymore. “
Kirkconnell, 24, also apologized this week, saying, “At one point, I didn’t recognize how offensive and racist my actions were, but that doesn’t excuse them. My age or when it happened does not excuse anything. They are not acceptable or correct in any sense. I was ignorant, but my ignorance was racist ”.
But fellow competitors made their own statement saying that they “denounce any defense of racism”.
The current season of ABC’s long-running program features Matt James, the first black “bachelor”.