Matt James, ABC’s First Black Bachelor, Says Producers Missed A Chance To Address Race Issues: “Everyone Was Afraid And Sitting On Their Hands”
Matt James, who made history last year as the first Black (male) lead on one of TV’s biggest shows, The Bachelor, has had over a year to reflect on the experience and now says he sees the full scope of the opportunity lost. Given the landmark nature of his role, James says he expected the show’s producers would use the conversations around race and other matters he was having with the contestants and then-host Chris Harrison to illuminate the issues the country was facing in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd. But when he saw the show after it was edited, those discussions and even the reality of his own accomplishments were subsumed by the show’s fluffier fare.