BACHELOR host Chris Harrison “may be fired” following outrage for “defending racist behavior,” a source exclusively told The Celeb Report.
The longtime face of the franchise – who has been apart of the show since season one in 2002 – sparked fan outrage for “offensive” comments on the ongoing scandal with Rachael Kirkconnell.
“For the first time in the show’s history, execs are considering all their options for Chris Harrison,” a production insider revealed.
The source added: “He’s made some mistakes publicly before but he has never made this kind of blunder. He knows it and the producers know it.”
Fans have called for Chris to be fired for “unacceptable” comments made while chatting with former Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay – the first Black lead in the show’s history.
Chris, 49, asked fans to show “compassion” for Rachael Kirkconnell, 24, after resurfaced photos showed her attending an “Old South” plantation party in 2018.
During the chat, Chris also continued to speak over the ex Bachelorette and claimed the racism problems were “okay” in 2018 but “not in 2021” – while adding he’s “not the woke police.”
The source continued of the reaction to his comments: “There’s never been talk about firing Chris for real before but it’s something that could actually happen.
“There is also chatter about reducing or changing his role. One suggestion offered was to remove him as host but keep him as an executive producer.
“But they are not even close to the stage of making a shortlist of potential replacements.
“Obviously Rachel Lindsay’s name is being thrown around, but ABC won’t make a rash decision about this one, they’ll take their time.”
Chris has served as both host of the franchise and executive producer since the very first episode premiered in 2002.
While he has widely been “beloved” by Bachelor Nation, production understand it’s a “new world” from when the show first began and “know they need to make some kind of change.”
ABC did not respond for The Celeb Report’s request for comment.
Following video Chris’ interview with Rachel, 35, going viral, fans launched a petition that has already gotten over 35,000 signatures and counting to remove Chris as the Bachelor host.
The petition claimed the TV personality “has a history of misogyny and racist behavior and racist-sympathizing behavior.”
Chris did share an apology to his Instagram page after two days of fan outrage, but many thought it was “poorly written” and “insincere.”
Adding to the backlash, 25 women from the current season rallied together to denounce the hosts’ stance in a joint statement.
We are the women of Bachelor Season 25. Twenty-five women who identify as BIPOC were cast on this historic season that was meant to represent change.
“We are deeply disappointed and want to make it clear that we denounce any defense of racism.
“Any defense of racist behavior denies the lived and continued experiences of BIPOC individuals. These experiences are not to be exploited or tokenized,” the women said.
The group then praised Rachel for continuing to advocate for change within the series.
On her podcast Higher Learning on Friday, Rachel said that although she is “contractually bound in some ways,” to appear on The Bachelor still, when it is up “I am, too.”
“I can’t. I can’t do it anymore,” she admitted.
The ex attorney added that she had been having a “really, really hard time” accepting Chris’ apology because at the time of their interview on Tuesday he had “no problems” with his words.
