Matt James is the latest guest to join “The Bill Simmons Podcast”, and the most recent star of “The Bachelor” shared his thoughts on the racism controversy that overshadowed the show due to the Rachael Kirkconnell controversy and the remarks in her defence that led host Chris Harrison to step away from the show.
Speaking about the photos of Kirkconnell, taken at a sorority “Antebellum” party, James revealed how he first learned of their existence.
“Just like everybody else did: TikTok, Twitter. It’s constantly in your feed, and you don’t want to think that someone knows your person better than you do. You know what I mean?” said James.
“So, it’s like, I’m taking everything with a grain of salt… And, so you dismiss it, you know? And, as it continued to come up again and again and again, and then when it’s addressed formally in the statement that Rachael put out, it’s just a devastating blow. It’s heartbreaking because everything is real at that moment. It’s no longer rumours. It’s real,” he continued.
“When you see things like that, there’s parts of me that you don’t understand. And, you have to take a step back and allow that person to put in the work — I always say ‘put in the work,’ everyone’s saying ‘put in the work’ — putting in the work is educating yourself. It’s hiring a person of colour, a woman of colour to show you the nuances of how to act and how not to act,” he said.
“Some people didn’t grow up in diverse backgrounds like I did. I grew up with Black, white, Jewish, Asian communities all around me. And, I’m not going to make excuses for anybody but those types of relationships I had growing up allowed me to appreciate those cultures and things that you should respect about — just general decency,” he added.
“The tough thing is having to explain to America why those pictures are problematic to me,” James explained of why he chose to end the relationship. “You hear people harping on forgiveness and I forgave her when she told me. That doesn’t mean I’m not disappointed and that I don’t want her to do better. And, for that to take place, I have to take a step back and let her pursue that.”
James also shared his thoughts on Harrison’s unfortunate interview with former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay, in which he defended Kirkconnell from what he described as “the woke police.”
“As I watched that interview with Chris and Rachel, I thought I was in an alternate reality,” admitted James. “Like, it didn’t even seem real as it’s coming out. It was sad. It was sad to hear that because I’d had so many conversations about how I was feeling, what I was going through, and that crazy process that I was in. And, it’s hard to imagine that [Harrison] could really sympathize with what I was feeling. And I think that’s why the network ultimately did a great job in having Emmanuel Acho come in and run that ‘After the Final Rose’.”
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As James pointed out, he doesn’t believe Harrison should be “cancelled.”
“But, Chris has outlined in his statement that he’s committed to putting in the work. He’s taken a step back, so I respect that,” he said. “And, I hope that he does and I don’t think anybody should be trying to cancel him. We should be calling him in to do that work that he’s outlined that he wants to do. He’s taken a step back to commit to doing that, so I look forward to seeing him do that.”
He also addressed whether there was a possibility that he and Kirkconnell could get back together.
“Here’s what I’ll say, Bill. I don’t think that anyone’s irredeemable. And, I think that for Rachael, there’s a lot that we didn’t discuss that we probably should’ve talked about. I probably should’ve asked more clarifying questions. And, I’m giving her that space to do that,” he said.
“And, in the meantime, I’m working on myself. I’m not going to be dating. I’m just solely focused on getting back into that meaningful work in the community and centring myself around projects that are going to elevate all the work that I’ve been working on doing in the city and special interest things that I appreciate outside of reality television,” he added.
The entire podcast can be heard below:
