- Rachel Lindsay did not like the conversation that Chris Harrison had with Matt James about race.
- At the premiere, James talked about the pressure he felt at being the first black star in “Single”.
- Lindsay said she didn’t like that James “had to explain to a white man what it means to be black”.
- Visit the Insider home page for more stories.
Weeks before “The Bachelor” was launched in the scandal after Chris Harrison’s controversial interview with Rachel Lindsay, the “Bachelorette” star was already frustrated with the franchise and its longtime host.
Lindsay told Insider in January that she did not like the conversation Harrison had with Matt James during the season’s premiere, in which James discussed the pressure he felt for being the first black “Bachelor” star in the show’s 19-year history.
“Why does Matt James, a black man, have to explain to a white man what it means to be black?” Lindsay, who made history as the first black maiden of all time, said. “It just wasn’t the right way to do that.”
Lindsay said she understands why James received criticism for the interview with Harrison
James and Harrison during the season premiere of “The Bachelor”.
Craig Sjodin via Getty Images
Just before meeting the women on the first night of the premiere episode, James asked Harrison if they could sit and talk. The 29-year-old realtor then opened up to Harrison about “what it was like to be the product of an interracial marriage”.
“It’s difficult because you have people who have certain visions, old school visions about what a relationship is like and what love is like,” said James in the January 4 episode. “And you have people who are hoping that you find love. And then you have people who are hoping that you end up with a specific person, a specific person of a specific race.”
“This is something that keeps me up at night,” he added. “I don’t want to piss off black people, I don’t want to piss off white people, but I’m both. Do you know what I mean? It’s like, how do I please everyone?”
Lindsay told Insider that she would like James to be able to express his feelings in an “ITM interview”, known by Bachelor Nation as an “In The Moment” interview, which shows someone speaking directly to the camera.
“The conversation should have been Matt talking about some of his fears and reservations that he has in taking on that role,” said Lindsay. “The setup didn’t help Matt at all and I feel that that’s also why people criticized him so much.”
Lindsay gave James a chance to address the conversation on his ‘Bachelor Happy Hour’ podcast
When Lindsay and James talked about that moment in the January 12 episode of their “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, the former “Bachelorette” did not contain her criticism.
She told “Spinster” that many people wrongly thought the conversation was an “exemption that you wouldn’t choose a black woman”, which James said was frustrating.
“If you knew anything about me, if you were close to me, you would know that the last women I dated were all black. And when you’re dating someone, if you’re excluding a race, I don’t even know where to start,” continued.
Lindsay then told James that he wished the conversation had also touched on the pressure he faces as a biracial man in the leadership position.
“You are not only representing yourself as a black man, you are also representing yourself as a biracial man, and this is an entirely different way of walking through life because you are not just a race,” she said.
“I honestly don’t see it as pressure anymore,” James replied. “I see this as a reality.”
Weeks after the premiere airs, “The Bachelor” is back in the headlines
James and Rachael Kirkconnell in “The Bachelor”.
Craig Sjodin / ABC via Getty Images
On Saturday, Harrison announced that he was “moving away” from the show “for a period of time” after speaking out in defense of a controversial competitor in James’ season.
Harrison’s announcement came four days after his Extra interview with Lindsay, in which they discussed the photos that emerged of Rachael Kirkconnell at a plantation-themed fraternity party in 2018.
The 24-year-old, who pioneered James’ season, made headlines for the first time in January, when a TikTok user accused the “Bachelor” contestant of intimidating her for dating black men. Another TikTok user also accused her of liking racist photos.
When his interview with Lindsay started, Harrison asked people to give Kirkconnell “a little grace, a little understanding, a little compassion”.
“Well, the photo was from 2018 at a pre-war party in the Old South, it’s not a good look,” Lindsay replied. “She is celebrating the Old South. If I went to that party, what would I represent in it?”
Harrison said Lindsay was “100% right in 2021”, but said it would not be the case in 2018. He added that “the police awake are out there” and that Kirkconnell was “thrown to the lions”.
After the interview, a petition was launched to remove Harrison as a host and the former contestants for “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” demanded responsibility for the franchise.
Harrison later apologized on Instagram, saying in a statement that “he has spent the past few days listening to the pain my words have caused, and I am deeply sorry.”
“By excusing historical racism, I defended it. I invoked the term ‘police awake’, which is unacceptable. I’m ashamed of how uninformed I was. I was so wrong, ”he added.
Kirkconnell also apologized later, acknowledging that “rumors are circulating”.
“At one point, I didn’t recognize how offensive and racist my actions were, but that doesn’t excuse them,” wrote Kirkconnell in a statement shared on Instagram. “I was ignorant, but my ignorance was racist.”
Even before Harrison’s controversial interview and subsequent apology, Lindsay told Insider that the franchise still needed to make big changes when it came to improving diversity issues.
“Until we have someone at the top who is making decisions who is a person of color, we will never get there, and we haven’t done it yet,” she said in January.
“The program hired a diversity consultant, a team, which is a big step,” added Lindsay, “but they can do a lot and make suggestions. We need people who are making decisions in the room.”