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After a racism scandal in the first season of “The Bachelor’s” with a black man that led longtime host Chris Harrison to quit the franchise earlier this year, ABC’s popular reality TV franchise would have its first black executive producer: Jodi Baskerville. Neither the network nor Warner Horizon, which produces the reality series, responded to a request for comment. Variety first reported the news.
Baskerville, a “Bachelor” mainstay who has also worked on such high-profile reality shows as “America’s Next Top Model” and “Pit Boss,” will take on the role at a pivotal time for the franchise. According to Variety, she will take on the new title with season 18 of “The Bachelorette,” starring the franchise’s next black star Michelle Young, 28. The series is scheduled to air in October.
This means that a black executive producer will take a leadership role in a season with a black woman for the first time, alongside a black co-host (former Bachelorette Tayshia Adams, who succeeded Harrison alongside ‘another former chef, Kaitlyn Bristowe, this season). Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co., ABC’s parent company, had pledged to support the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd and amid global protests of police violence against black people.
Like a Twitter user said in praising the decision, “steps towards change in #BachelorNation… can’t wait to see how it plays out in Michelle’s season!”
Young was the season 25 finalist of “The Bachelor” after its frontman Matt James selected Rachael Kirkconnell, who was pictured at a pre-war southern-themed college party in 2018.
Harrison has been criticized for defending Kirkconnell during an “Extra” interview with Rachel Lindsay, the first black frontman in franchise history. “This judge-juror-executioner story is tearing the life of this girl apart,” Harrison said of the criticisms Kirkconnell faced after the racist image surfaced.
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