Former Bachelorette lead Rachel Lindsay reveals that she accepted the apology Chris Harrison made on GMA regarding their interview.
Rachel tells TMZ that she accepted the apology because it’s “what she needs to do to move forward with her life.”
This implies that she may not necessarily be ready to fully pardon Chris, but rather move on from the controversy that has resulted in death threats.
Rachel has not directly accepted his GMA apology as she hasn’t spoken to him since the GMA interview, but she says she did watch the interview and he had already apologized to her immediately following the Extra interview.
Rachel adds that she doesn’t want to be involved in deciding Chris’ future on the show. She wants the discussion to remain between Chris and the producers.
How Chris’ GMA apology went
Chris did his first public interview since his controversial Extra interview with Rachel that lead to him temporarily step away from his hosting duties with the franchise.
Chris spoke one-on-one with GMA co-host Michael Strahan. Chris started off his apology by stating that he made a mistake that doesn’t represent who he is.
“I am an imperfect man, I made a mistake and I own that,” Chris stated. I believe that mistake doesn’t reflect who I am or what I stand for. I am committed to progress, not just for myself, also for the franchise. And this is a franchise that has been a part of my life for the better part of 20 years and I love it.”
He added, “Those parties are not OK, past, present, future. And I didn’t speak from my heart. And that is to say that I stand against all forms of racism, and I am deeply sorry to Rachel Lindsay and to the Black community.”
This apology comes after Chris defended Rachael Kirkconnell during his Extra interview with Rachel. Rachael had posted and liked social media images that had racist connotations. Chris expressed that Rachael shouldn’t be judged for posts from 2018 and refused to hear out Rachel who has experienced racial discrimination firsthand.
Michael Strahan wasn’t thrilled with Chris’ apology
Even though Rachel accepted Chris’ apology, it doesn’t seem that Michael has.
Michael later slammed Chris’ apology while talking with his GMA co-hosts.
Michael stated that Chris’s apology was “nothing more than a surface response on any of this.”
“Obviously he’s a man who wants to clearly stay on the show, but only time will tell if there’s any meaning behind his words,” Michael added.
As Michael stated, Chris was vocal about his desire to stay on the show. However, production is allegedly making “changes” regarding Chris’ future on the show.
Do you think Chris deserves to stay with The Bachelor?
The Bachelor airs on Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.