Matt James has broken his silence amid a growing racism scandal involving The Bachelor front runner, Rachael Kirkconnell.
While Matt didn’t speak out against racism or the racist activity that one of the women on The Bachelor this season has taken part in, he did throw support to Rachel Lindsay, who has been very vocal about it.
He has been the last to speak out, following Rachel’s heavy criticism, which lead to an interview with Chris Harrison that received much criticism itself.
Soon after, Chris apologized for what he said upon realizing that he had become a part of the problem by trying to downplay the severity of Rachael Kirkconnell’s presence at an antebellum-themed sorority party because of when it happened, which was only three years prior to her time on the show.
Rachael also made a statement where she apologized and took full responsibility for what she did. She admitted that, at the time, she didn’t realize how “offensive and racist” her actions were but also said that her ignorance wasn’t an excuse and she vowed to do better.
Matt James speaks out
Matt made his position known by sharing a post from Rachel Lindsay with a message that read, “I am beyond grateful[sic] to have Rachel as a mentor during this season. Your advocacy of BIPOC people in the franchise is invaluable, I stand with you and the rest of the women advocating for change and accountability.”
Rachel’s post, contained a photo of The Bachelorette star and read, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can…”
Matt’s cosign of Rachel’s recent advocacy is likely all he can say do to his contractual agreement with The Bachelor production as his season continues to play out on ABC.
How might this affect Matt’s relationship with Rachael Kirkconnell?
As many The Bachelor viewers already know, Rachael Kirkconnell is rumored to have won the whole show and Matt James’ heart.
But with Rachael’s recent racism scandals, including claims she “liked” a photo that contained a confederate flag and now this revelation that she attended at least one antebellum party, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if Matt changed his mind about Rachael.
However, it seems that in his support of Rachel Lindsay, he may also have been throwing support behind Rachael Kirkconnell as well when he wrote that he stands behind “the rest of the women advocating for change and accountability.”
After all, Rachael took full responsibility and even said that she wants to be an advocate for change when she wrote that she wanted to help other people not to make the same mistakes as she made.
The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.