The Bachelor contestant apologizes on reunion show for defending blackface

"What happened was racist," said season 27 Bachelor contestant Greer Blitzer during the show's "Women Tell All" episode

By Savannah Olson  |  March 15, 2023 | 5:27pm
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The Bachelor contestant apologizes on reunion show for defending blackface
The Bachelor host Jesse Palmer and contestant Greer Blitzer Photo: ABC/Craig Sjodin

Controversy is nothing new to the Bachelor franchise, with every season including one or more contestants with questionable backgrounds and even more questionable online activity. That hasn’t changed with Zach’s Shallcross run as the titular bachelor, with season 27 continuing the cycle as tweets circulated online of contestant Greer Blitzer defending blackface back in 2016. However, the long-running reality series decided to confront the racism scandal head-on and interviewed Blitzer in last night’s reunion episode.

During Tuesday night’s “Women Tell All” special, franchise host Jesse Palmer sat down with Blitzer and asked her to speak about the “troubling” and “disturbing” social media posts from her past.

“The truth is, as a franchise, we’ve done a very poor job in the past of addressing serious topics head-on, and we’re not going to miss that opportunity here tonight,” Palmer said (via Variety).

“I’ve been wanting to address this,” said Blitzer in front of the studio audience. “I don’t want to sweep it under the rug.”

“What happened was racist,” added Blitzer. “It’s not about the intent—it’s about the impact. This acquaintance of mine that I knew performing blackface was racist, me defending it was racist, my ignorance was racist. I’m just so ashamed.”

Given the “First Impression” rose (a common Bachelor signifier of a contestant who’ll make it far in the show) prior to the season starting, Blitzer became wrapped up in controversy after Reddit users unearthed screenshots of now-deleted tweets the 24-year-old made back in 2016 where she defended a peer’s use of blackface.

“The students involved didn’t even know what black face was so my point exactly,” allegedly tweeted Blitzer. “It wasn’t an intentional racist act.”

In another alleged tweet, Blitzer wrote, “This previous incident was dumb not racist? She did not paint herself black because she felt superior to black ppl.”

After the season’s first episode aired in January, Blitzer issued an apology on her Instagram story, calling her past statements “uneducated, ignorant and frankly, wrong.”

“I am deeply sorry to those I have hurt, especially those within the Black community, not because these screenshots have resurfaced, but because I ever shared these harmful opinions at all,” she said. “Time and age do not excuse my actions, but this is not a reflection of who I am today.”

While the show discussing and confronting contestants about this type of behavior is a step in the right direction, it has to be noted that these situations have become almost formulaic in the series. Even Matt James’ historic season as The Bachelor’s first black lead in 2021 ended up involving a racism scandal, as photos were unearthed of winner Rachael Kirckconnell attending a plantation-themed party in college.

 
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