{"id":568153,"date":"2023-03-31T06:17:29","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T03:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/bachelor-creator-mike-fleiss-responds-to-report-of-investigation-into-racial-discrimination-amid-show-exit\/"},"modified":"2023-03-31T06:17:29","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T03:17:29","slug":"bachelor-creator-mike-fleiss-responds-to-report-of-investigation-into-racial-discrimination-amid-show-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bachelor-creator-mike-fleiss-responds-to-report-of-investigation-into-racial-discrimination-amid-show-exit\/","title":{"rendered":"#\u2018Bachelor\u2019 Creator Mike Fleiss Responds to Report of Investigation Into Racial Discrimination Amid Show Exit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Two days after news<\/a> broke that The Bachelor<\/em> creator Mike Fleiss was exiting the franchise that premiered more than two decades ago, he has responded to a report that his departure followed an investigation into racial discrimination, with Fleiss acknowledging that he could have done more to engender diversity. <\/p>\n

\n Variety<\/em> published a report<\/a> Thursday stating that Warner Bros. Television, which is behind ABC\u2019s long-running dating franchise, conducted the investigation after several employees lodged complaints against Fleiss that included alleged bullying. Per the report, among those involved in the investigation conducted by a third party were current producers as well as former production staffers, which led to Fleiss\u2019 exit.<\/p>\n

\n In a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>, Fleiss did not directly address the investigation but said that he should have stepped up efforts to make the franchise more diverse. He stated that he was proud of having worked to make it more inclusive in the past five years, an app<\/a>arent reference to Rachel Lindsay becoming the first Black lead of The Bachelorette<\/em> in 2017. In its 27 seasons, The Bachelor<\/em> has had one Black lead, Matt James, whose season aired in 2021.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cSince its premiere 21 years ago, times have certainly changed, and I\u2019d have to say we didn\u2019t keep up with the pace of those changes,\u201d Fleiss said in his message. \u201cI am proud of the work we\u2019ve done over the past five years to make the show substantially more diverse,\u00a0but I do believe I could have done more. Hopefully, the franchise will continue to move in the right direction.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n In his statement, Fleiss added that he believed that throughout his tenure he had \u201cmore good days than bad, lifted more spirits than hurt feelings,\u201d and that he leaves with \u201cmore friends than foe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Representatives for ABC and Warner Bros. declined to comment.<\/p>\n

\n On Tuesday, the day after ABC aired the season 27 finale of The Bachelor<\/em> starring lead Zach Shallcross, Fleiss announced that he was leaving the franchise that launched in March 2002. Spinoff series<\/a> The Bachelorette<\/em> debuted the following January, and Fleiss has executive produced later follow-ups including\u00a0Bachelor Pad<\/em>,\u00a0Bachelor in Paradise<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Bachelor Winter Game<\/a>s<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n Fleiss had stepped back from active involvement on the shows of late and had not been day-to-day on\u00a0The Bachelor<\/em>\u00a0in the past decade. Claire Freeland, Jason Ehrlich and Bennett Graebner were named executive producers and showrunners for the franchise and have already begun working on the upcoming 20th season of The Bachelorette<\/em>, which stars Charity Lawson and premieres in June.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI want to thank WBTV and ABC for 21 extraordinary years,\u201d Fleiss said in his Tuesday statement. \u201cThey\u2019ve found the perfect creative team for me to entrust\u00a0The Bachelor<\/em>\u00a0franchise and keep this lightning in a bottle bold and moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n