A week after Zach Shallcross eliminated Greer Blitzer from this season of The Bachelor, the contestant apologized again for her controversial posts about blackface.
The 24-year-old medical sales rep from Bellaire, Texas earned her first impression of Shallcross, though she was eliminated in seventh place last week.
Blitzer came under fire shortly after she was announced as part of the cast, with one Reddit user digging up since-deleted tweets from 2016 defending someone wearing Blackface for a Halloween costume.
While Blitzer apologized for the social media tweets in January, the show did not address the controversy until Tuesday’s special.
Host Jesse Palmer put Blitzer on the dock, addressing the franchise’s past in handling racial controversies.
Apologize again: A week after Zach Shallcross eliminated Greer Blitzer from this season of The Bachelor, the contestant apologized again for his controversial posts about blackface
Defended: Blitzer came under fire shortly after she was announced as part of the cast, with one Reddit user digging up deleted tweets from 2016 defending someone wearing Blackface for a Halloween costume.
“The truth is, as a franchise, we’ve done a very poor job in the past of addressing serious issues head-on, and we’re not going to miss that opportunity here tonight,” Palmer said on the special.
‘I’ve been wanting to address this. I don’t want to sweep it under the rug. What happened was racist. It’s not about intent; it’s about impact,’ Blitzer said.
One of Blitzer’s since-deleted tweets from 2016 read, “The students involved didn’t even know what blackface was, so my point is exactly.” It was not an intentional racist act.
She said in another since-deleted tweet: ‘Was this previous incident silly, not racist? She didn’t paint herself black because she felt superior to black people.
Blitzer admitted Tuesday: “This acquaintance of mine who knew I was doing blackface was racist, me defending him was racist, my ignorance was racist and I’m so ashamed.”
“I am deeply sorry that I have hurt the black community. I can’t go back in time. All I can do is try to be better now and try to do better in my future,” she added.
She added in the special that she has educated herself by studying various conferences and working with Dr. Kira Banks, a professor and diversity, equity and inclusion consultant who was in the special’s audience.
“I really wanted to dig into the history of blackface and understand why it was wrong, why it was offensive,” Blitzer added.
Truth: “The truth is, as a franchise, we’ve done a very poor job in the past of addressing serious issues head-on, and we’re not going to miss that opportunity here tonight,” Palmer said on the special.
Direction: ‘I’ve been wanting to address this. I don’t want to sweep it under the rug. What happened was racist. It’s not about intent; it’s about impact,’ Blitzer said
Educating: She added in the special that she has educated herself by studying various lectures and working with Dr. Kira Banks, a professor and diversity, equity and inclusion consultant who was among the special’s audience.
“The research that I was able to do, I realized that it was symbolism to dehumanize the black community,” Blitzer said.
‘What I said was wrong. Defending that girl was racist. I want to take that responsibility, I don’t want to excuse it,’ she admitted.
Blitzer’s ordeal was just the latest racial controversy Bachelor Nation has had to address in recent years.
The latest Bachelorette winner, Erich Schwer, came under fire when a high school yearbook photo showed him in blackface.
The Bachelor Season 25 featured another controversy when the eventual winner, Rachel Kirkconnell, was photographed at an antebellum plantation-themed frat party.
That controversy ultimately resulted in Bachelor Nation host Chris Harrison walking away from the franchise after defending Kirkconnell in an interview conducted by former Black Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay.
Lindsay’s own 2017 season featured a racially-themed controversy when racist and sexist tweets surfaced from one of the contestants.
The Women Tell All special also revealed that Charity Lawson, who was eliminated on Monday’s episode, has been named The Bachelorette for season 20.
Incorrect: ‘What I said was wrong. Defending that girl was racist. I want to take that responsibility, I don’t want to excuse it,’ he admitted.
The latest: Blitzer’s ordeal was just the latest racial controversy Bachelor Nation has had to address in recent years.