Chris Harrison Got A $9 Million Payout To Leave “The Bachelor”

June 21, 2021 / Posted by:

Earlier this month, it was announced that rose-counting reality show host robot, Chris Harrison, was leaving The Bachelor franchise after he did a disastrous interview on Extra where he defended a contestant’s racist past. We heard that ABC stuffed eight figures in Chris’ pockets to go the hell away. Well, Variety published an in-depth article about the behind-the-scenes goings-on of Chris’ exit and I’m sad to say he only received a measly $9 million, plus contractual fees. Poor guy! How will he survive?!

Chris Harrison’s downfall started with an interview with former Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay. Rachel was the only Black Bachelorette until Tayshia Adams and has been vocal about ways the series could improve its racial representations. Variety says that the Extra interview with Chris was not even planned and he chose himself to do it. This led to him defending contestant, Rachael Kirkconnell, for going to racially horrifying Antebellum parties and dismissing Rachel’s points completely in an incredibly cringe-inducing 14-minutes. Chris was apparently unaware he’d done anything wrong:

According to a small handful of people familiar with the situation, Harrison was not aware of how much attention his response was receiving, and did not realize just how problematic the television interview would become.

So it snowballed from there and Chris wound up stepping back for racial sensitivity training after he apologized. It was then planned that there would be another apology on Good Morning America, which is also on ABC, so Chris thought it would go well. It didn’t, and GMA host Michael Strahan called bullshit on Chris’ apology. Chris was pissed:

Harrison, likely expecting a softball interview as the face of the network’s top-rated reality franchise, was angered by the disastrous outcome. And, so were Bachelor executives, who were perplexed by Harrison’s rigid on-air performance, which came off disingenuous.

Another nail in his coffin came from Katie Thurston, the current Bachelorette, who told Chris to his face she didn’t want him to host her season:

Insiders familiar with discussions say that Thurston spoke to Harrison directly, informing him that she would not feel comfortable starring as The Bachelorette if he was involved due to all of the controversy surrounding him. This conversation upset and hurt Harrison, according to a person familiar with their chat.

Still, Chris was trying his damndest to get back into the franchise:

Insiders close to Harrison say that the veteran host deeply cared about Bachelor Nation and loved his job. The entire situation took a toll on him, and he always planned on returning. His commitment to the franchise never wavered.

And sources say he even tried to smooth-talk his way back into the show when they started filming the new season:

Harrison was essentially knocking on the door, asking to salvage his job by making calls to various people on set, begging them to put in a good word for him.

When Chris found out that he was being replaced as host of Bachelor In Paradise, he lost it. Chris then got the same lawyer who helped Megyn Kelly exit NBC. And just like Megyn Kelly, Chris got a huge check as part of his exit settlement. Chris got $9 million as well as remaining contractual fees from the series for a grand total of $10 million. That number is a lot, but it’s been reported that Chris was making $5 million a year hosting the franchise.

First, we got Giuliana Rancic out at E!’s red carpet and now Chris is out of The Bachelor! Hopefully, this follows the trend of Laverne Cox replacing Giuliana and Chris can be replaced by Billy Porter. Imagine the outfits? Fuck counting the roses, he’d wear the roses. They’d pluck them from his dress!

Pic: Wenn.com

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