“The Bachelor” franchise is not any stranger to controversy, and after having been embroiled in race-related scandal lately, the ABC courting present addressed a contestant controversy head-on within the newest episode.
Greer Blitzer is a contestant on the present season of “The Bachelor,” which stars main man Zach Shallcross. Earlier than the season premiered, Reddit customers unearthed former tweets from 2016 the place Blitzer defended carrying blackface. The fact star apologized on her personal social media in January for the racially insensitive tweets, however the present had not addressed the controversy till now.
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On Tuesday’s episode of “The Bachelor: Girls Inform All,” host Jesse Palmer put Blitzer within the sizzling seat and requested her tackle the backlash concerning her “troubling” and “disturbing” posts, in entrance of a studio viewers.
“The reality is, as a franchise, we’ve executed a really poor job prior to now of addressing severe matters head-on, and we’re not going to overlook that chance right here tonight,” Palmer stated.
“I’ve been wanting to deal with this. I don’t wish to sweep it beneath the rug,” Blitzer instructed Palmer. “What occurred was racist. It’s not in regards to the intent; it’s in regards to the impression.”
The scandal surrounding Blitzer surfaced final 12 months as soon as “The Bachelor” Season 27 solid was introduced. In her previous tweets, Blitzer defended a highschool pupil for carrying blackface, allegedly tweeting in 2016, “The scholars concerned didn’t even know what blackface was so my level precisely. It wasn’t an intentional racist act.” One other alleged tweet learn, “This earlier incident was dumb not racist? She didn’t paint herself black as a result of she felt superior to black ppl.” And in one other, Blitzer allegedly wrote, “Placing white powder in your face isn’t okay both. That didn’t make the information did it?”
On Tuesday night’s episode, Blitzer defined, “This acquaintance of mine that I knew performing blackface was racist, me defending it was racist, my ignorance was racist and I’m simply so ashamed.”
“I’m simply deeply sorry that I damage the Black neighborhood,” she stated. “I can’t return in time. All I can do is attempt to be higher now and attempt to do higher in my future.”
Blitzer stated she has educated herself, studied lectures and has been working with Dr. Kira Banks, a professor and variety, fairness and inclusion marketing consultant. Dr. Banks was seated within the viewers at “Girls Inform All,” and addressed the bigger difficulty, talking about taking actual motion versus performative phrases.
“I actually wished to dive deep into the historical past of blackface and perceive why it was flawed, why it was offensive. The analysis that I used to be capable of do, I noticed it was symbolism for dehumanizing the Black neighborhood,” Blitzer stated. “What I stated was flawed,” she added. “Defending that woman was racist. I wish to take that accountability, I don’t wish to excuse it.”
That is definitely not “The Bachelor’s” first run-in with controversial contestants who’ve problematic pasts. Through the years, viewers have questioned the franchise’s strategy of background checks, particularly within the age of social media.
On most up-to-date season of “The Bachelorette,” which aired final 12 months, winner Erich Schwer was on the heart of controversy for carrying blackface himself when a photograph of him from his highschool yearbook surfaced on-line. He apologized on social media for what he referred to as an “insensitive photograph.” In an interview with Selection, “The Bachelorette” star Gabby Windey (who’s not in a relationship with Schwer) stated, “He apologized, however in the end there’s actually no excuse for this conduct.”
On Season 25 of “The Bachelor,” which starred Matt James and aired in 2021, an explosive scandal erupted involving profitable contestant Rachael Kirkconnell that in the end resulted within the departure of veteran host Chris Harrison (who was then changed with Palmer). James was the first-ever Black star of the long-running present, and he fell in love with Kirkconnell, who ended up being on the heart of a racially insensitive controversy. Throughout the season, pictures from 2018 surfaced on social media, displaying her in attendance at an antebellum plantation-themed fraternity formal. Harrison defended Kirkconnell in a now-infamous TV interview, performed by former “Bachelorette” Rachel Lindsay, who was the primary Black feminine star of the franchise, the place he invoked the time period “woke police.” He apologized for “wrongly talking in a way that perpetuates racism,” however the messy scenario by no means died down, and Harrison ultimately left the franchise. (Right now, James and Kirkconnell are nonetheless fortunately collectively.)
And in 2017, when Lindsay’s historic season aired together with her being the first-ever Black lead on “The Bachelor” franchise, considered one of her contestants had racist and sexist tweets floor on social media.
Blitzer obtained the primary impression rose from Shallcross on the season, that means she was an early frontrunner. She was despatched dwelling on final week’s episode, so is not within the competitors. She appeared on “Girls Inform All,” which brings collectively the solid members to debate (and bicker) in regards to the drama on the season.
Instantly after the dialog with Blitzer aired, many social media customers praised Blitzer and “The Bachelor” for a head-on apology and for not dancing the dialog. Others criticized the contestant for needing to talk with a DEI marketing consultant to grasp that defending blackface is racist.
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