The longtime host of The Bachelor, Chris Harrison, says he is having a crack from his role on the clearly show after seemingly defending contestant Rachael Kirkconnell, who has been accused of publishing racist posts on social media. Harrison claims he would not want his actions to overshadow an otherwise historic period of the program.
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“This historic year of The Bachelor ought to not be marred or overshadowed by my faults or diminished by my actions,” Harrison wrote in a assertion on Instagram. “To that conclude, I have consulted with Warner Bros. and ABC and will be stepping apart for a interval of time and will not sign up for for the After the Ultimate Rose special.”
Kirkconnell has been accused of carrying an offensive Native American costume, putting up photographs of Confederate flags on social media, and attending an antebellum plantation-themed occasion in 2018. She apologized for her behavior previously this week:
I was ignorant, but my ignorance was racist. I am sorry to the communities and persons that my actions harmed and offended. I am ashamed about my lack of education, but it is no one’s duty to educate me.
Harrison defended Kirkconnell, stating that she deserved to be proven “a very little grace, a little comprehension, a minimal compassion.”
He explained: “Because I have viewed some stuff online — this decide, jury, executioner thing — exactly where individuals are just tearing this girl’s lifetime apart and diving into, like, her mothers and fathers, her parents’ voting history. It’s unbelievably alarming to check out this. I haven’t read Rachael discuss on this however. And until finally I really listen to this female have a prospect to discuss, who am I to say any of this?”
[Via]
