The Bachelor star Ben Higgins is currently under fire for making comments about the restraining order situation involving former Bachelor star Colton Underwood and his ex-girlfriend Cassie Randolph.
Ben, who has a podcast with fellow Bachelor star Ashley I, spoke out about the restraining order.
He said that love can make you do crazy things, making some listeners believe that he was defending Colton’s actions — and those comments aren’t sitting well with victims of abuse.
Bachelor fans slam Ben Higgins over comments that appear to defend Colton Underwood
The Instagram account @bachelornation.scoop shared some photos and screenshots of the podcast and added some commentary.
“If you aren’t educated on the details don’t speak about it on a podcast. The court records show that he put a tracker on her car and made up a stalker to stalk both of them and harass her little brother”
Several Instagram accounts, including @datecardpod, revealed that it was downright dangerous for Bachelor stars like Ben to speak out on situations that they don’t know anything about.
Ben was also slammed for trying to excuse Colton’s behavior in the name of love. @Datecardpod explained that both Ashley and Ben’s comments were dangerous as they excused potential criminal behavior.
The comments continued, as Ben and Ashley showed empathy for Colton. @bachelornation.scoop added that Colton needs to get help and everyone should be cheering him on to start some kind of treatment.
While we haven’t read through all of the court documents, we do know that Cassie revealed that she lived in fear when she filed the official court documents, asking for a restraining order.
Colton’s text messages to Cassie have been leaked and they are scary, as he reportedly followed her and put a tracker on her car. He knew who she was with and when.
Bachelor fans share their thoughts on Ben Higgins
When Ben Higgins’ comments were made public, Bachelor fans got angry. They took to social media to share their thoughts, revealing that Ben and Ashley were wrong to discuss this issue in such a public forum.
Bachelor fans called them “messed up” for talking about it and asked them to please stop treating abuse as entertainment.
The @datecardpod commented on the situation, revealing that they had been in contact with Ben and he explained that his comments were not meant to be harmful. He is supposedly planning on talking to experts on his podcast to educate himself about abuse.
Another Bachelor podcast called @heretomakefriendspod revealed that they had chosen not to address the story about Cassie and Colton because they are on hiatus. However, the podcast still shared their stance, saying that abuse in the name of love is still abuse.
It’s clear that the podcast hosts wanted to distance themselves from Ben’s comments.
@bachelornation.scoop also shared screenshots from fans, who pointed out that abuse is never okay and can never be justified.
If you or someone you know is struggling with domestic abuse, call or reach out to the National Domestic Hotline.
The Bachelorette premieres on Tuesday, October 13 at 8/7c on ABC.