Harrison – Page 2 – Ft McMurray's Homepage

The “Men Tell All” special is one of the most anticipated episodes during each The Bachelorette season. After all, the drama comes easy when you put every eliminated contestant in the same room to hash over the season’s gripes before everyone goes on their merry, sponsored Instagram-posting way. This year was a little different, though, because by the time Chris Harrison teased next week’s finale, the biggest controversy surrounding Becca Kufrin’s season was completely unmentioned.

ICYMI, the news out of this season wasn’t Colton’s virginity or Jordan’s Zoolander soundbites; it was the report that contestant Lincoln Adim was convicted of assault. No one expected Adim to be in attendance at Men Tell All—he wasn’t invited—but it was notable that nobody addressed him or the case during the taping of the show. So, we sat down with Chris Harrison and asked him to explain.Read on.

Lincoln’s name never once came up tonight. Considering this was a big story that prompted Warner Bros. to release a statement, why was it avoided at the taping?

Chris Harrison: First of all, Lincoln was not invited and not welcome here. What he did was illegal and against the law, so that is a very easy call. There was no chance he was coming here tonight, no chance I wanted to talk to him or hear his side, because there is no side. What he did was commit a crime. That’s a very easy answer. As far as dealing with it, we wanted [Men Tell All] to remain about Becca, about the guys, and about this journey. And going there…this wasn’t the time or place. There really isn’t much to explain about Lincoln other than he lied, he deceived, he committed a crime, he’s not here, and he’s removed from the show and the franchise.

Warner Bros. said they were looking into how he slipped through the cracks because they do extensive background checks. We haven’t heard anything since. How can the show prevent this from happening again?

Chris: I’ll leave that to the lawyers and Warner Bros., but I will just say it’s very easy for people to go on social media and say it was very easy to discover. [Well,] that’s because you knew what you were looking for. We also know what we’re looking for, and it’s not as simple as everybody thinks it is to find that. It was a bizarre set of circumstances that allowed that to happen, on top of someone [Lincoln] who decided to lie and deceive.

PHOTO: Paul Hebert

Obviously, Blake and Garrett were not at Men Tell All, but when you sit down with Garrett on After the Final Rose, will you bring up his history of liking bigoted memes on Instagram?

Chris: Possibly. Another thing I want to say is that people need to stop putting Lincoln and Garrett in the same sentence. That’s something that kind of pisses me off. What Garrett did is something you disagree with. That is different than what Lincoln did. Lincoln broke the law. That is a very, very different thing than liking something you don’t agree with on Instagram.

I have no problem with you disagreeing with what Garrett did. I have no problem if it makes you angry, if it makes you sick to your stomach, but just remember it’s something you disagree with. It that wasn’t something that’s against the law, which is what Lincoln did. Just don’t put them in the same sentence. But if Garrett made you sick, that’s fine too. Will we talk about it? Probably. Maybe. I don’t know. It really depends on the situation in the moment. The finale [after show] is live, so a lot of what I’m doing is going on feels, like it was tonight. If it feels like the right time, then we’ll do it.

Sspeaking of the finale, what’s in store?

Chris: Becca’s goodbye [to the runner-up is] easily the most gut-wrenching tearful moment that I have been through. It literally brings her to her knees. You have to watch. Trust me. The exit that you’re going to see is probably in the top five of [most dramatic Bachelor franchise moments ever]. We haven’t even really teased it that much because you don’t have to. When you have the goods and you know what’s coming…just watch. It’s stunning.

So are you saying that the man she says goodbye to is probably going to be the next Bachelor?

Chris: Could be. People are always riding on that wave of enthusiasm. [But then again] everyone’s high on Joe the Grocery Store guy right now. He’s in the mix; great guy. We’ve never had a guy from Buffalo [Jason], very articulate…unlike Joe who doesn’t speak. [Laughs] So, Jason’s in the mix. Obviously number two [Garrett or Blake] might be in the mix. Number one might be in the mix if [he and Becca are] not still together [by then]…you never know. And obviously, you gotta watch Paradise because look who came out of Paradise. Wait and see…

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After the season that almost wasn’t, Bachelor in Paradise attempted to wrap things up with a bow at tonight’s finale by reuniting Corinne Olympios and DeMario Jackson for the first time since production was shut down over allegations of misconduct earlier this summer.

While the much-anticipated joint interview didn’t reveal anything new about what did or didn’t happen in late June, Corinne and DeMario did open up about the benefits of therapy to get them through a very trying time. “Therapy has been really good for me and helped me make sense of things,” Corinne said. “I’m trying to get back to my old self.” DeMario wished Corinne happiness before adding, “I hope someday we can not be connected in this cloud.” Corinne’s response: “I think the cloud has cleared.”

But has it? After the show, host Chris Harrison admitted to us that while he’s content with how things turned out in the end, he still doesn’t love how everything was handled. “I get that you’re not satisfied with everything fully, nor am I,” he told us backstage. “I don’t love how this has gone. But you have to realize, I was put on a certain field and within a box that I had to play.”

Viewers may never know the whole story, but Chris sat down with Glamour to explain why he’s choosing not to watch the tape that reveals what happened between Corinne and DeMario and where things went off course.

In recent interviews that Corinne and DeMario have given, they’ve both blamed the media, but plenty of respected outlets only reported on the official statements that were released by both parties. What’s your take?

Chris Harrison: My take on this is, I agree, because I come from the journalism background. There were some things I saw…let’s back up. The “third party” [producer] started this ball rolling. If you’re going to blame somebody, you can start there. Then it goes to the producers, myself included, that were a part of this. Then we made the decision to shut [Paradise] down—while I somewhat agreed with it, I wasn’t fully on board with the whole shutdown, but we had to do what was right by Corinne and DeMario. I can go to bed tonight knowing that I treated DeMario and Corinne equally with respect and dignity and class and handled that as well as we possibly could.

But once we shut down, and once we made the decision to go back, you can’t un-ring that bell. You can’t do that quietly. There’s no way to quietly say, “Oh, production was shut down. Why? Allegations of assault?” So, while there was some misreporting and some wild accusations, I will defend the media—what are you going to do, not report it? You had to report that story. But with that said, when I came home, I turned on the network morning news and there were three or four facts wrong in the story that I was watching. I was astounded. How is this happening 12 hours after I get home, that there’s [already] three or four facts wrong on this network morning show?

Can you tell us what they were? Or what irritated you the most about it?

Chris: I’d have to go back and see the package that was run, but there were things said that I was like, “What?!” I called PR and said, “How does this happen? How are facts already wrong? Why are people reporting things that aren’t true?” So it started there. Those were small potatoes compared to things on the Internet, things that are “alleged,” but the problem is this “alleged” bullshit that goes out there and things can just be said now. Then outlets can go back and debunk them the next day. I call it the TMZ effect because that’s where it started. They’re masters at it. They’ve made a billion dollars on it.

You mentioned tonight that you’d love for an interview with the third party [producer] to happen. Will we ever hear from that person?

Chris: I don’t know. Look, if I had to grade myself on how all this was handled, I’d give myself about a B minus. I get that you’re not satisfied with everything fully, nor am I. I don’t love how this has gone. But you have to realize, I was put on a certain field and within a box that I had to play.

There are things I legally can and can’t say to DeMario and Corinne, and there are things I legally can and can’t say about this third party. I would love to sit down with all of them. And, by the way, you can’t just lay the blame at this third party’s feet. There are producers that messed up and dropped the ball. There are executives, there are lawyers, there are a litany of people—myself included—that should be involved in the blame game. It’s not just the media. But I get why, back to your original point, Corinne and DeMario are saying the media because when they got home, the media blew their lives up. Even DeMario said—and I saw that same report and wasn’t going to say anything about it, but when there’s a report about you dragging a lifeless body out of a hot tub and making sexual advances on that lifeless body…

That’s rape.

Chris: Right, that’s rape. When you start throwing that word out there, that’s not OK. That’s where I draw the line. There are reputable sources and reputable media outlets, like yourself…I talked to people, I was doing interviews, and I was telling people exactly what happened because I was witness to it. I was telling them things I witnessed, and they said, “Thank you but we’re not going to go with that yet, we need to confirm with another source or two before.” And I said, “Good for you.” They could have easily gone with what I said, and they would have been right, but they didn’t. There are some good people out there. I hope some things will be taken from this and a little learning.

Did you see the tape?

Chris: I have not. I have not seen the tape.

Do you want to?

Chris: No, I purposely did not see the tape. I was asked to see the tape, I could have seen the tape, I could probably still see the tape. I don’t want to. There’s no reason to. I know what’s on it. I was there that day. I didn’t see it happen live either because I wasn’t in the control room at the time it was happening, but I know what’s on it. And in no way would that change my opinion; in no way do I need to see or hear it.

So you’re happy with how things…

Chris: I’m content. I’m as content as I can be. I’m happy for Corinne and DeMario. I wanted to see that ending [that viewers saw tonight]. I felt like after those two interviews I did on earlier episodes of Bachelor in Paradise this season they needed to come together. There needed to be that cathartic ending and exchange. I don’t know if anyone cares or anyone wanted to see that, but my decision trumped that. I wanted it to happen.

The public may never know what’s on that tape exactly, or everything that went down. If anything “good” could come of this whole thing, it’s that much like the race discussions that happened on Rachel’s season, we’re having conversations about consent and sexual assault. That needs to happen more. So, as the father of a 13-year-old daughter, what do you tell her and teach her as a dad?

Chris: That’s a big question. At the end of the day, there’s not a lesson you tell your daughter. You raise your daughter. For 13 years, I have been teaching her and talking to her to have faith in her God, to have faith in her family, to trust herself, to be in control and in charge of her body. Same thing for my son. Hopefully, you keep that in mind as you make decisions in life, whether it’s consent, whether it’s drinking, whether it’s running naked across the quad in college, whatever it is! In terms of getting consent and understanding that it is consensual, it’s a big conversation but it’s a conversation I’m glad we’re having [on the show].

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