The star of “The Bachelorette,” Rachel Lindsay, is feeling just how weighty it is to be the first Black lead on the hit ABC show and an argument between suitors proved to be too much.
“The pressures that I feel being a Black woman and what that is … I don’t want to talk about it,” she says through tears on “The Bachelorette” Monday, June 19. “I get pressured from so many different ways being in this position, and I did not want to get into all of this tonight.
“I already know what people are going to say about me and judge me for the decisions that I’m making,” she added. “I’m going to be the one that has to deal with that and nobody else. And that’s a lot.”
Lindsay’s conflict stemmed from a back-and-forth between Kenny King, a pro-wrestler and single father who is Black, and Lee Garrett, a singer-songwriter whose racist tweets surfaced in May.
Garrett repeatedly interrupted King’s one-on-one time with Lindsay, which led King to confront his fellow contestant. King raised his voice and Garrett later told Lindsay, who overheard the dispute, that King became “aggressive” and flipped Garrett the bird.
King denied the claim in his confessional, while Garrett said, “I get tickled when I smile at an angry man and he gets angrier,” in his, which aired after their argument. Garrett also said he would happily make King look bad to Lindsay.
Despite the drama, both men got roses that night and remained in the competition.
On Twitter, many users sounded off in support of King and took issue with Garrett’s “aggressive” description.
Kenny was not aggressive. Lee is so typical. Black guy voicing opinion=aggressive. #TheBachelorette
— Kadiyah Lodge 📝 (@kadiyahlodge) June 20, 2017
https://twitter.com/Msjillianw/status/876972366349438977
https://twitter.com/forzadepor13/status/876983214602104832
https://twitter.com/simi______/status/876984027634388994
