The Bachelor host and executive producer Chris Harrison will be stepping down from hosting The Bachelor for an indeterminate period of time, according to a statement posted to his Instagram on February 13. Harrison writes that this decision was made in consultation with Warner Bros. and ABC, after he defended past racist activities of current contestant Rachel Kirkconnell in an Extra interview with Black Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay on February 9. The next day, Harrison apologized for “wrongly speaking in a manner that perpetuates racism,” and on February 12, 36 out of this season’s 37 Bachelor contestants issued a joint statement in solidarity with Lindsay and condemning “any defense of racism.” In Harrison’s statement about stepping down, he writes: “By excusing historical racism, I defended it. I invoked the term ‘woke police,’ which is unacceptable. I am ashamed over how uninformed I was. I was so wrong. To the Black community, to the BIPOC community: I am so sorry. My words were harmful.” Harrison goes on to write that he does not want his actions to overshadow this “historic season of The Bachelor,” referring to the first Black Bachelor, Matt James. Harrison confirms in the statement that he will not appear in the “After the Final Rose” special.
