Rachel Lindsay was the first person of color to be picked as The Bachelorette back in 2017.
At the time, she made history because no person of color had ever been cast as The Bachelor or Bachelorette. It was time for a change.
But since then, the franchise has not chosen another person of color, even though Mike Johnson was the perfect choice as The Bachelor for the 2020 season.
Instead, the franchise went with Peter Weber.
Now, Rachel is speaking out against the franchise.
Given the racial movement going on in the country at the moment after a white police officer killed George Floyd and Hannah Brown muttered the n-word on Instagram while singing a DaBaby rap song while drinking, Lindsay has a few things she wants to get off her chest.
Rachel Lindsay is embarrassed to be affiliated with The Bachelor
The former Bachelorette decided to speak out about the Bachelor franchise, saying she’s embarrassed to be affiliated with the show. After 40 seasons, she remains the only person of color who has ever taken the lead role.
“We have now casted for 40 seasons — even though they haven’t started Clare [Crawley’s],” Rachel told Page Six in an exclusive interview.
“There’s been one person of color in 40 seasons. We have 45 presidents. There has been one person of color. We are literally on par to saying that you are more likely to become the President of the United States than you are to be the lead of this franchise. That is insane.”
Even though the franchise does cast some people of color as potential partners of the lead, it isn’t enough, according to Lindsay. She wants to see a more diverse cast, and she wants ABC to be on the right side of history.
Right now, they are not, and she’s embarrassed to be affiliated with them.
“When I look at what’s happening in our country, and then I look at the franchise, I can’t continue to be affiliated — it’s embarrassing honestly at this point — to be affiliated with a franchise who is not on the right side of this,” she said.
This isn’t the first time that Rachel has been outspoken about The Bachelor franchise. In March, she said the franchise wouldn’t survive if it didn’t change the way they cast people.
Rachel Lindsay continues to be a voice of education
After Hannah muttered the n-word in a rap song she was performing on Instagram Stories, Rachel decided to ask Hannah to do a live interview, where she could educate Brown about the use of the word.
However, Hannah decided to skip out the opportunity.
Rachel previously revealed she was disappointed in Hannah for ditching their chat. She’s now saying she’s satisfied that Hannah issued another apology.
“I don’t want to critique an apology. An apology is an apology,” Lindsay said. “It was solid and it was heartfelt, which is exactly what I would expect when it takes you two weeks to put out an apology. I mean, it should have been all those things.”
Rachel explained that she wanted her to do the live video but that she felt Hannah’s apology was genuine.
The Bachelorette is currently on hiatus.