Chris Harrison’s girlfriend has taken a stand against him.
Lauren Zima, who has been dating “Bachelor” for two years, posted a statement on her Instagram story after Harrison fired from the show this week for “excusing” a contestant’s racist behavior .
“What Chris said was wrong and disappointing,” Entertainment Tonight correspondent Zima wrote Saturday. “The defense of racism can never pass.”
“Accountability comes first, what follows is learning and growth.”
Earlier Saturday, Harrison, 49, announced that he would be moving away from the show, which he has hosted since its inception, and that he would not be part of the “After the Rose” special at the end of the current season of “.
“Excusing historical racism, I defended it. I invoked the term “wake up the police,” which is unacceptable. I am ashamed of how uninformed I was. I was wrong, ”he said.
The uproar surrounded Harrison this week after he granted an interview asking fans to give current contestant Rachael Kirkconnell “a little grace, a little understanding” after he learned that he once attended a college-themed party. planting in 2018 and who allegedly “liked” racial insensitivity. posts on social media.
Harrison made the comments during an interview for “Extra” with Rachel Lindsay, who was the first black “Bachelorette,” who became a warm-up back and forth about the race.
Following the controversy, Lindsay, who still works for the “Bachelor” franchise, said she would be severing ties with the program.
“I can’t stand it anymore,” Lindsay, who in the past has been outspoken about the program’s lack of diversity, said on Friday in her podcast “Higher Learning”. “I am contractually bound in some way. But when it’s over, so am I. I can’t do it anymore. “
Kirkconnell, 24, also apologized this week and said: “At one point, I didn’t recognize how offensive and racist my actions were, but that doesn’t excuse them. My age or when it happened doesn’t excuse anything. They are not acceptable or good in any way. I was ignorant, but my ignorance was racist. “
But his fellow contestants came out with their own statement saying they “denounce any defense of racism.”
The current season of the ABC’s long-running program features Matt James, the first black “Bachelor.”