This season of The Bachelor has seen its fair share of drama — and we're not even halfway through the season yet! From bullies to sex shaming to dildos, we've seen it all. But the most hot-button topic has been centered around Rachael Kirkconnell.
Recently, photos have emerged of Rachael attending what appears to be an Antebellum-themed party back in 2018:
Photos have now emerged of Rachael Kirkconnell at an antebellum plantation-themed fraternity formal in 2018 #TheBachelor #BachelorNation
Speechless.
This has obviously caused quite the stir among Bach Nation:
Now, Rachael herself hasn't made a comment on these photos — though she has deleted them and turned off her Instagram comments — but don't fret, because Chris Harrison went on Extra to talk with Rachel Lindsay about the whole ordeal:
From the jump, Chris's language seemed a lil'...too forgiving. Now, I'm not putting words in the man's mouth, but it sounds like he's confusing "getting canceled" with "asking someone to take accountability for their actions:"
We all need to have a little grace, a little understanding, a little compassion, because I've seen some stuff online...Again, this 'judge, jury, executioner' thing where people are just tearing this girl's life apart and diving into...her parents' voting record...it's unbelievably alarming to watch this! I haven't heard Rachael [Kirkconnell] speak on this yet, and until I actually hear this woman have a chance to speak, who am I to say [anything]? You know, I saw a picture of her at a sorority show five years ago and...that's it! Boom, this girl is in this book now and she's now in this group and I'm like, "Really?"
Rachel Lindsay, however, was not letting Chris ride off on the high horse he thinks he came in on:
And then, for some reason, Chris thought that this was the appropriate response to Rachel L.'s statement:
Live footage of my reaction to Chris's response:
If you look up the definition of "hitting the nail on the head," you'll find Rachel L's response to Chris's, IMO, asinine response:
Chris then doubled down:
The topic of if/when Rachael will speak about this came up, and Chris has every confidence that her response will be eloquent but not good enough for social media:
It'll be interesting to see when she does speak — and I know she will — [what the reaction will be], because you will not please everybody, you're not going to 'cure' this, there is not a way to unwind it. Now, I think she'll be able to give an eloquent enough reason for most reasonable people, but reasonable people aren't on social media, and that's who you're dealing with.
Rachel L. brought up the point that this isn't the first time The Bachelor has had something like this happen — and implied that it won't be the last — and asked Chris if the franchise is going to make an official statement about the matter:
Overall, I agreed with one thing Chris said in this interview:
Here are the "serious opinions" on Chris's interview from "social media" users:
We can leave grace and space for learning while still demanding accountability. I feel like @chrisbharrison expresses more empathy for people who romanticize the confederacy than people who are harmed by white supremacy in this clip. So disappointing. https://t.co/Lw2BabkLpb
This is example #3487 that Chris Harrison really needs to learn the difference between ‘cancel culture’ and ‘accountability.’
@BrettSVergara @TheRachLindsay Seeing Chris Harrison, a privileged white man, try to give his opinion on race issues to a black woman is not okay
Chris Harrison’s interview with Rachel Lindsay was disturbing and unsettling. At one point, I wasn’t sure if he was only defending Rachael's racism or his own. Lindsay deserves a raise.
It’s time to replace Chris Harrison #TheBachelor
You can watch the full interview here:
