Rachel Lindsay.Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
Rachel Lindsayis continuing to open up about the diversity issues she has witnessed within theBachelorfranchise.
The reality star, who was the first BlackBacheloretteback in 2017, appeared on comedian Ziwe Fumudoh’snew variety showon Monday, during which Ziwe asked about whether Lindsay has ever faced backlash for ending up with a white man — husbandBryan Abasolo.
“All three of the Black Bachelors and Bachelorettes have ended up with partners who are not of color,” Ziwe said, referencing Lindsay, as well asMatt JamesandTayshia Adams, who are respectively dating and engaged to the white partners they met while on the reality series.
“It’s something I was worried about before I went on the show,” said Lindsay, 36. “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.”
Bryan Abasolo and Rachel Lindsay.Randy Holmes/Getty Images
Lindsay said she thinks any backlash speaks to “how unfairly people of color are held to certain standards that their white counterparts aren’t,” but 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,” she said. “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 the host asked for more information, 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.
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The star has long been vocal about issues of racism inBachelorNation. Earlier this year, she said she had"had enough" with the franchiseamid the controversy surrounding the show and longtime hostChris Harrisonduring James’ season.
The controversy arose when contestant Rachael Kirkconnell was called out for past racially insensitive social media posts which saw her dressed in Native American attire in costume and attending an antebellum plantation-themed college party in 2018. (She has sinceapologized.)
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Harrison, 49, addressed the situation during an interview with Lindsay on Extra. During their14-minute, unedited conversation,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.
“I can’t take it anymore,” Lindsay said on her podcast,Higher Learning withVan 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.”
Lindsay has sincestepped awayfrom theBachelor Happy Hourpodcast and announced her forthcoming memoir,Miss Me with That.
source: people.com
