Rachel Lindsay Puts The Bachelorette on Blast for Only Casting a Certain Type of Black Man
Rachel Lindsay is at it again.
The former Bachelorette, who was the first Black woman to lead this franchise back in 2017, appeared on comedian Ziwe Fumudoh’s new variety show on Monday.
During her appearance, the host asked about whether Lindsay has ever faced backlash for ending up with a white man… husband Bryan Abasolo.
And Rachel had an in-depth take on both this question and this topic.
“All three of the Black Bachelors and Bachelorettes have ended up with partners who are not of color,” Ziwe said, referencing Lindsay — as well as Matt James and Tayshia Adams.
These stars are respectively dating and engaged to the white partners they met while on the reality series, especially now that James appears to be back with Rachael Kirkconnell.
“It’s something I was worried about before I went on the show,” replied Lindsay on air.
“I think I got a little bit more grace because I was the first and people were just excited that a person of color was in this role.”
Lindsay has long been critical of how The Bachelor and The Bachelorette has handled the topic of race and diversity.
She constantly took the series to task for waiting so long to cast an African-American Bachelor… and then said that merely casting James wasn’t good enough… and then truly went off after the whole Kirkconnell-Chris Harrison debacle.
Back to Fumudoh’s inquiry, however.
Back to Lindsay’s view on how Black leads have only ended up with white partners…
“I think when the next person chose someone that wasn’t Black, and then by the time we got to the third one it was like ‘you know what they’re just not going to choose anybody that’s Black,'” she continued.
Lindsay said she thinks any backlash speaks to “how unfairly people of color are held to certain standards that their white counterparts aren’t.
However, she added that it’s also “a casting issue.”
“There was a point where I broke down on camera, and they used my tears for something else, but I was getting upset at the selection of men of color,” Lindsay revealing, pulling back the show’s curtain a bit.
“I also learned as I was going through my season that several of the Black men on my season didn’t date Black women.”
When Ziwe asked for further intel, Lindsay said the show’s producers “found it interesting” to choose Black men who had never dated a Black woman.
“I said ‘You think that’s interesting? That’s my life. I live that,'” Lindsay recalled.
Lindsay has never been one to hold back her opinion. Full stop.
But she’s been especially outspoken about how ABC executives have fumbed anything and everything to do with diversity.
Earlier this year, the ex-reality star said she had “had enough” with the franchise amid the controversy surrounding the show and longtime host Harrison during James’ season.
The controversy went viral after Kirkconnell was called out for sharing racially-insensitive social media posts, one of which featured her in Native American attire in costume … and showed herr at an antebellum plantation-themed college party in 2018.
Harrison addressed the scandal during an interview with Lindsay on Extra.
During their 14-minute, unedited conversation, the producer stuck his foot very deeply into his mouth.
He said people should have “a little grace, a little understanding, a little compassion” in the wake of the resurfaced photos and questioned the “lens” of 2021 compared to 2018.
Harrison eventually apologized and even volunteered to step away as host for a bit.
He will not, for example, serve as emcee of Katie Thurston’s upcoming season of The Bachelorette.
“I can’t take it anymore,” Lindsay said on her own podcast, Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay.
“I’m contractually bound in some ways, but when it’s up, I am, too. I can’t. I can’t do it anymore.”
Andd now said contract is up.
Lindsay has since stepped away from the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast and announced her forthcoming memoir, Miss Me with That.
“I’ve been struggling, that’s no secret,” Rachel acknowledged on the latest edition of this show.
“I’m glad that I’m leaving on a high note where it’s the 100th episode… It’s just time for me to move on.”
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