Rachel Lindsay Abasolo has been outspoken about the issues surrounding The Bachelor franchise since her turn as The Bachelorette. She has some choice words for Chris Harrison after his controversial interview with her and subsequent apology.
Rachel's season of The Bachelorette aired in 2017, and she was the first Black Bachelorette. The season was a huge landmark for the franchise, which had never had a Black lead of either gender before. Fans were thrilled about her taking the lead because of her intelligence and bubbly personality. Rachel chose Bryan Abasolo as her winner, and the two have since married. Rachel now hosts the Bachelor Happy Hour and Higher Learning podcasts, as well as hosting Extra and MTV's Ghosted. The attorney and television personality recently interviewed Chris Harrison for Extra about current contestant Rachael Kirkconnell's racist behavior in the past and on social media. Chris' shocking and offensive defense of Rachael's racist actions angered fans and Bachelor alum alike. Fans started a petition to have him fired, and Bachelor stars like Tayshia Adams, Taylor Nolan, Demi Burnett, Mike Johnson and many others posted on social media about their disappointment in the show and in Chris.
Rachel shared her reaction to the interview and Chris' apology on the Higher Learning With Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay podcast. Rachel said she "wasn't shocked at what he said. I'm just shocked he said it on camera." She said doing the interview was very uncomfortable for her, but that she "needed people to hear what was happening." Rachel was frustrated with Chris' apology and said that what viewers saw during the interview is his authentic opinion. "Tuesday was your truth," she said of the interview, "Wednesday was the after fact," referring to the apology. She tried to stay calm and not be too outspoken during the interview to let Chris show his true opinions. "During that conversation, his privilege was on display," she remarked.
Rachel expressed frustration not only with Chris, but with the show in general. She said that while she is contractually obligated to some things right now, she will not be renewing her contract with the show. "I can't take it anymore," she said on the podcast, "I'm f**king tired." Rachel explained that she went on the show in the first place to increase representation, and has continually been frustrated with the small steps forward the show takes. She threatened to cut ties with the show last year because of the lack of representation, but relented when Matt James was cast as the first Black Bachelor. On Extra on Monday, Rachel reacted to Chris' statement that he would step away from the show to educate himself. While Rachel didn't say definitively that he should be fired, she did re-emphasize that she's not ready to believe his apology was genuine.
Chris Harrison's apology hasn't done much to smooth over his comments with the rest of Bachelor Nation either. The show will have to address this scandal further to earn back the trust of fans.