One black ‘Bachelorette’ in franchise’s 40 seasons? Fans say it’s time for a change
Fans and former stars of “The Bachelor” franchise say it’s time the show cast more contestants of color.
That’s the goal of the Bachelor Diversity Campaign, an initiative launched this week by a group of “Bachelor” buffs who connected on Facebook, according to USA Today.
The change.org petition, which had more than 73,000 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon, is calling for the long-running reality dating show to diversify its contestants to feature more “Black, Indigenous, People of Color,” or BIPOC.
The show has remained largely white during its 40 seasons on air, casting only one black lead in its 18-year history.
“This is unacceptable,” the group wrote. “As creators of one of the most popular and influential franchises on television, ABC and Warner Bros. have an opportunity and responsibility to feature BIPOC relationships, families and storylines. The franchise, and all those who represent it, should reflect and honor the racial diversity of our country — both in front of and behind the camera.”
The new push comes amid protests calling for racial justice and police reforms following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died May 25 when a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes.
The petition was posted online just hours before “The Bachelor” franchise aired its “greatest hits” compilations of previous seasons, USA Today reported.
The diversity campaign makes 13 demands, including casting a black man as the next “Bachelor” and ensuring all future seasons “feature at least 35% BIPOC contestants.”
Other demands include ensuring minority contests get equal time on screen and donating to causes that combat racism.
Rachel Lindsay, star of the 13th season of “The Bachelorette” and the franchise’s only African-American lead, penned a blog post Monday expressing support for the campaign, saying she’s long been vocal about the lack of diversity on the show.
“I ultimately decided to be the Bachelorette because I knew this opportunity was bigger than me,” Lindsay wrote.
“I knew that I wanted to be a trailblazer in this franchise to diversify the lead role, to diversify the contestants trying out and casted for the show, and to diversify the audience watching this show,” she continued.
The Dallas-born attorney admits there’s still work to do, however, and threatened to part ways with the show if the diversity issues aren’t fixed, Vulture reported.
“The whole franchise needs a diversity makeover,” Lindsay wrote in the blog post.
Some fellow “Bachelor” alums have also supported the petition, including Ben Higgins, Ashely Spivey, Nicole Lopez-Alvar and Diggy Moreland.
“I’m so thankful for @TheRachLindsay for pioneering this movement to end the formula that @BachelorABC has used for over a decade,” Lopez-Alvar wrote on Twitter. “Now, more than ever, we need to speak up collectively.”
The complaints about a lack of diversity aren’t new, however.
Two black men filed a class action lawsuit in 2012 accusing ABC of intentionally excluding nonwhite contestants from the show, according to CNN.
The suit was ultimately dismissed.
This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 12:58 PM with the headline "One black ‘Bachelorette’ in franchise’s 40 seasons? Fans say it’s time for a change."