Bachelor Producers are talking candidly Matt James‘ Show season. during an interview Los Angeles Timesexecutive producers Claire Freeland and Bennett Graebner acknowledged missteps in the show’s first season with a black lead.
“Frankly, we let Matt down. That season went wrong on so many levels,” Graebner said. “We didn’t give him the protection he deserved.”
James’ season mired in controversy Photos surface The final winner’s Rachel Kirkconnell Attended an Old South plantation themed party while in college. she Later apologized and Ask someone Stop defending her actions.
Later, long-time franchise host Chris Harrison In an interview with the former Bachelorette, she defended Kirkconnell’s past racist behavior, encouraged people to offer her “grace” and spoke out against “woke police” Rachel Lindsay. he Later apologized and was replaced as host Jesse Palmer.
Although James commit to a relationship Along with Kirkconnell, the two revealed during the live portion of the finale: That’s how they ended in her racism scandal.
“The end of that season was the darkest day I’ve ever had with this team,” Graebner said. “This is a great black man whose love story we should be celebrating. Instead we see a man burdened with issues of racism. That’s really sad for me personally.”
finally, James and Kirkconnell reconcile and been together since. While promoting his 2022 book first impression, James told the Economic Times Reviews of the series: “At its heart, this is not a bad show. There are bad characters and there are things going on that make the experience different for everyone.”
“From everything I’ve gained from it, from a relationship standpoint, from a personal growth and family relationship, I can’t go out and say you wish you could change some things, you wish you could have some conversations coming back,” James added. “There were some key people in the series who helped me get through it, so I will always be grateful to them.”
However, ahead of James’ season, the team’s struggles with racism continued.
“It’s hard to say it out loud, people of color don’t see themselves represented, they don’t see bachelor “We view the franchise as a safe place,” Graebner said. “We haven’t had a Black man lead in this franchise in 15 years, and that’s inexcusable. It creates a vicious cycle, It takes a lot of effort to get back to a place where we feel we are at least working toward the positive.
Freeland said, “The core value of this show is that everyone deserves to find love, regardless of race, ethnicity, background, creed. The only way we can do that in a truly satisfying way is to make the show People reflect on the country we live in.
Although people of color have since emerged as leaders—— bachelorette There are black people leading Michelle Young and Charity Lawsonand is working on its first season of asian americans lead Chen Ren ——After James, there has never been a black bachelor. Graebner and Freeland agreed that casting a black bachelor on the next season is a “priority.”
“We don’t always get it right. We make mistakes as we move forward. But we don’t shy away from difficult conversations,” the former said before the latter addressed fans of the series. Not satisfied with the program.
“We can’t change the minds of people who are not interested in this new direction. What we can do is change the plan,” Freeland said. “There’s a reason this show has been on the air for 20 years. Dreams and longing for true love never get old. We hope people can look back on the past few years and see that we are working hard and taking steps to make changes.”
Graebner agreed, adding: “We know we’re not there yet. We still have a long way to go. But we’re committed to getting there. If you don’t want to see a black love story , an Asian-American love story, an interracial love story, then maybe Bachelor Nation isn’t for you.
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