The Men Tell All managed to provide a lot of surprising, entertaining, and drama-filled moments throughout, even despite Michelle Young’s season seeming reasonably tame.
Amidst all the pettiness that occurred during the men’s reunion episode, some The Bachelorette viewers noticed one moment that was particularly upsetting and disappointing from cohost Kaitlyn Bristowe.
Kaitlyn Bristowe calls Olumide ‘scary’ during his confrontation with Chris S.
There were plenty of men who caused issues on The Bachelorette Season 18, with one being Chris S, who many of the men have deemed a snake.
While playing back clips from the season, the men reacted as Chris S accused beloved fan-favorite Olumide Onajide of having a low IQ.
Olumide was given an opportunity to respond to Chris S at the Men Tell All, and Olu firmly told Chris S to never attack his intelligence again and declared that he is an example of Black excellence and also has a Master’s Degree.
Chris S refused to look at Olu as he was speaking, which led Olu to get up from his chair and stand in front of Chris so that Chris would give Olu the respect of acknowledging his presence.
Some of the men from the cast stood in between Chris and Olu, and during this encounter, Kaitlyn Bristowe can seemingly be heard calling Olu scary.
This comment from Kaitlyn has fans upset and disturbed, as calling a man like Olu scary for defending himself has a lot of deeper connotations.
A viewer took to Reddit to ask if anyone else felt ‘icky” by Kaitlyn’s comment, “Bc it seems the show has pushed this narrative that black men are scary.”
The Bachelorette viewers come to Olumide’s defense
Many commenters agreed that Kaitlyn’s comment was completely out of line and racially insensitive, and they weighed in with their thoughts underneath the post.
One commenter wrote, “Omg YES. It reminded me of when Chris S said, ‘are you gonna hit me??’ To Nayte in that one episode when Nayte was literally just trying to have a calm adult conversation with him. This show has consistently [aired] obvious microaggressions, it’s so awful.”
Other viewers felt disgusted that production painted Olumide’s actions as combative when he was just asking for respect and felt production should be ashamed of themselves for attempting to create that narrative.
Many criticized Kaitlyn for inferring that Olumide was the issue in that situation and not Chris S, who has a history of disrespect on the show.
The Bachelor franchise already has a poor track record regarding inclusivity and proper representation for people of various cultures, so while Kaitlyn’s comment may seem subtle, it speaks to a more significant issue.
A commenter broke down the larger issue saying, “A. Yes, she said “scary” B. Yes, that’s racist. There’s a long history of white people calling Black people scary, aggressive, etc. as part of their campaign to dehumanize Black people. And this history is ongoing today…It doesn’t matter if Kaitlyn was aware she was doing that; the racism is there regardless. It’s her responsibility as a person to know these things and do better than this.”
Time will tell if Kaitlyn decides to speak out about her comment, as it clearly was offensive to many who heard it.
The Bachelorette airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC.