I don’t watch The Bachelor, so the only time I hear anything about The Bachelor is when something bad happens, like a brutally awkward, and cruel finale; when The Bachelor contestants are caught grifting the government; or when the longtime host, Chris Harrison, is pushed out for defending a contestant accused of racism.

I also know that The Bachelor has been criticized for years for its lack of diversity. It turns out, there’s a reason for that: The creator, Mike Fleiss, thinks that “minorities don’t get ratings.”

Fleiss claimed earlier this week that he had resigned from The Bachelor franchise after 21 years. In the days since, however, it appears that Fleiss didn’t have a say in the matter. He was pushed out amid investigations into his behavior on the show. From Variety:

During the investigation, sources say, producers complained about Fleiss’ “bullying” behavior, as well as his resistance to increasing diversity on the show over two decades. Individuals who spoke during the investigation expressed that when production staffers suggested casting more diverse reality stars, Fleiss would not take their suggestions and would “lash out” against them. The individuals, who spoke anonymously with Variety, said that throughout the investigation, a common theme that repeatedly came up was that the fight for change was a source of frustration for many staff members.

“People said he would retaliate against people for having minorities and Black people on the show. He favored certain people over other people,” says an individual familiar with the investigation. “He would say, ‘Minorities don’t get ratings.’”

Fleiss essentially acknowledged those complaints in his response, saying that “he could’ve done more to diversify the show.”

Fleiss was accused in 2019 of attacking his pregnant wife and demanding she have an abortion. Security cameras in their home reportedly caught the incident on video and his wife displayed bruises on her arm in asking for an emergency restraining order, but Fleiss denied the allegations and claimed that it was his wife who attacked him. Sounds familiar.

Source: Variety