‘The Bachelor’ Shows Accused Of Discrimination In New Lawsuit

Every year, “The Bachelor” invites a new lineup of contestants to compete for love. And every year, the entire cast is almost all white. Two African-American men have just filed a lawsuit against the producers of the ABC shows “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette.”

EuroWeb reports that Christopher Johnson and Nathaniel Claybrooks filed their lawsuit today in Tennessee federal court. The complaint reads:

“The deliberate exclusion of people of color from the roles of the Bachelor and Bachelorette underscores the significant barriers that people of color continue to face in media and the broader marketplace.”

The lawsuit acknowledges that minority contestants have appeared on the show before but a minority has never stepped into the shoes of “The Bachelor” or “The Bachelorette.”

The lawsuit reads:

“Over 10 years and a combined total of 23 seasons of ‘The Bachelor’ and ‘The Bachelorette,’ neither show has ever featured a single person of color in the central role of the ‘Bachelor’ or ‘Bachelorette'”

Mike Fleiss, who created and executive produces both shows, told US Weekly last year that he hopes to have a minority Bachelor in the future, but doesn’t feel like there’s enough interest.

Fleiss said:

“I think Ashley (Hebert, the 2011 Bachelorette) is 1/16th Cherokee Indian, but I cannot confirm. But that is my suspicion… We really tried, but sometimes we feel guilty of tokenism. Oh, we have to wedge African-American chicks in there! We always want to cast for ethnic diversity, it’s just that for whatever reason, they don’t come forward. I wish they would.”

Buzzfeed did a little digging and found a few possible African-American contestants.

Here’s one potential suitor.

Do you think the shows “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” are guilty of discrimination?