Rachel Lindsay is standing by her earlier statements about the lack of diversity in the Bachelor franchise, even after Matt James was cast!
As you’re likely aware, it was announced early Friday that Tyler Cameron‘s bestie — who was set to compete for Clare Crawley‘s heart on the upcoming season of The Bachelorette — was the new Bachelor. This comes on the heels of fan pleas to cast more diverse leads moving forward, especially in light of the Black Lives Matter movement.
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Lindsay, who prior to James’ casting was the only black lead ever featured in the franchise, tweeted out on Friday:
“Congrats to Matt James. I am happy to see that a black man was cast after 18 years and 40 seasons. I believe it is a step in the right direction.”
Yes, it’s about time!!
However excited she may be, the 35-year-old is critical of what feels like a “knee-jerk reaction” to the current social climate:
“I would be remiss to not point out that based on the current climate, it feels like a knee-jerk reaction and a result of societal pressure. This announcement, without any further commitments regarding diversity, sweepingly brushes deeper issues under the rug.”
She continued, pressing the popular series to continue striving for positive change and more diversity moving forward:
“Until we see action to address the systemic racism within the franchise, the casting news today is equivalent to the trend of posting a black box on your social media account without other steps taken to dismantle the systems of injustice.”
“I look forward to hearing more about the additional efforts the franchise plans to make towards change.”
And ABC has already responded! Exec Rob Mills told Variety that neither the comments from Lindsay or online petitions had anything to do with James’ casting
“It wasn’t a response to that. We could have made this announcement earlier or later. Certainly no one is blind to what is happening in the world, so hopefully this announcement serves as a bit of optimism during a time that we can really use this, but I don’t want this to look like we’re patting ourselves on the back or taking a victory lap.”
While it’s definitely a step in the right direction, his casting isn’t a “cure-all” for the lack of diversity in the franchise, Mills said:
“Everyone agrees we can be doing better and we will work to do that. I do think there have been some strides made — small and maybe not enough, but there has been a commitment and that will continue.”
He added:
“Everyone agrees we should have had a Bachelor of color before this time. What you never want is for somebody to feel like they are the Bachelor because they are checking off a box.”
Hmm… are you buying what ABC is saying? Let us know your thoughts (below) in the comments!
[Image via FayesVision/WENN & Good Morning America/YouTube.]
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