During Matt James’s season of The Bachelor, photos of finalist Rachael Kirkconnell attending a racist antebellum-themed plantation party in 2018 surfaced, causing a massive controversy within the franchise. Despite calls for Rachael to issue a public apology, she initially remained silent—and even worse, her photos were defended by Chris Harrison.
Chris has since stepped away from the franchise and apologized for defending her racism, and he was replaced as host of After the Final Rose by Emmanuel Acho—who sat down with Rachael and asked what she sees when she looks at the photos of herself at the antebellum-themed party.
Rachael also explained that she doesn’t blame anyone for her ignorance but herself, saying “I think that people need to realize that just saying ‘This is normal where I came from,’ or ‘This is common where I came from,’ that doesn’t make it right. And that doesn’t make it okay.”
She also talked a bit about what she’s been doing to educate herself, saying that while she could “give you a list” of what she’s been reading and watching, “I don’t think anything is going to change if we don’t take those actions to put that education into play.”
Rachael previously released an apology on Instagram, saying in part “My age or when it happened does not excuse anything. They are not acceptable or okay in any sense. I was ignorant, but my ignorance was racist.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLK5YDHHDQT/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading
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FYI, Rachael also released a video apology, which you can watch below:
A post shared by rachael kirkconnell (@rachaelkirkconnell)
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