Rachel Lindsay Calls Out ‘Bachelor’ Casting After James Taylor's Tweets

Rachel Lindsay claimed that The Bachelor had casting problems after former contestant James Taylor attended the march on the Capitol in Washington, D.C., to protest President Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election.

The former Bachelorette, 35, called for Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss to make a change after he tweeted about Taylor’s involvement in the demonstration earlier this month.

“Whoever that former cast member/idiot jerkoff is that went to Trump’s treasonous rally, got a message for ya … You are officially exiled from #BachelorNation!!!” Fleiss, 56, wrote on Wednesday, January 13. After learning the name of the former cast member, he added, “Shame on you.”

Rachel Lindsay Calls Out ‘Bachelor’ Casting After James Taylor Attends Riot
Rachel Lindsay and James Taylor. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock; Courtesy James Taylor/Twitter

Lindsay retweeted Fleiss’ message, writing, “Reason #4853569536 we have to do better with casting.”

Two days prior, Taylor, 33, tweeted about the Capitol rally, claiming he had the support of ABC and Bachelor Nation.

“Big thanks to #TheBachelor family for supporting me during this time … from top to bottom,” he tweeted on Monday, January 11. “Conservative producers are the best!!”

Taylor, who competed for JoJo Fletcher’s heart on season 12 of The Bachelorette, added: “Thank you @ABCNetwork @ABC & @BachelorABC for having my back while I legally supported our President.”

A source, however, told Us Weekly that Taylor’s claims of support from the network are “unequivocally false.”

Before mentioning the demonstration, Taylor, who recently spoke about wanting to run for political office someday, was vocal about his plans to march and encouraged others to show up.

Lindsay, for her part, spoke out about Bachelor Nation’s continued issues of diversity and casting in June 2020, revealing she won’t continue to work with the franchise if something isn’t done.

“I have to see some type of change. It’s ridiculous. It’s embarrassing,” the Texas native said during an episode of AfterBuzz TV’s Bachelor A.M. With Kelsey Meyer at the time. “At this point, it’s embarrassing to be affiliated with it.”

The “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast cohost pointed out that in 40 seasons of the show, she was the only Black lead. Later that month, Matt James was named as the first Black Bachelor ahead of season 25.

“I don’t know how you are a part of The Bachelor franchise and you’re watching what’s happening in our country right now and you don’t self-reflect that you’ve been part of the problem,” she stated following the Black Lives Matter protests. “You continue to perpetuate this type of behavior when you’re putting out something that is very white-washed and doesn’t have any type of color in it and you’re not trying to be effective and change that.”

Listen to Here For the Right Reasons to get inside scoop about the Bachelor franchise and exclusive interviews from contestants

source: usmagazine.com