Leah Block is under fire after tweeting a tone-deaf joke about Rachel Lindsay’s season 13 of The Bachelorette, which features the most diverse cast in the show’s history.
Block, who competed on Ben Higgins’ season 20 of The Bachelor, compared the ABC dating show to Love & Hip Hop, which has a predominantly black cast. “I’m sitting here watching @BacheloretteABC and my roommate just sat down on the couch and said, ‘What is this? @LoveAndHipHop_? DEAD,” she wrote in the since-deleted tweet on Monday, June 19.
Lindsay, 31, who is the first black lead in the Bachelor franchise, clapped back on Twitter. “Let me know if she wants to meet Lee…they sound like they would have a lot in common #ihavetimetoday,” she replied. After the backlash, Block deleted her entire Twitter account.
Lee Garrett has been the villain this year and has constantly butted heads with fellow contestants. Block tweeted her comments during the episode where Garrett goes head-to-head with Kenny King.
The Nashville-based singer-songwriter also stirred up controversy for allegedly posting now-deleted racist tweets prior to appearing on the show. “What’s the difference between the NAACP and the KKK? Wait for it…..One has the sense of shame to cover their racist ass faces,” Garrett allegedly wrote in one 2015 tweet. In another 2016 tweet, he allegedly wrote, “I don’t hate Muslims, I do hate Islam.” He also reportedly shared an article titled “Thousands sign petition to recognize #blackLivesMatter as terrorist group after Dallas.”
Host Chris Harrison previously responded to Garrett’s controversy and said the franchise did not know about the tweets until the media reports surfaced. “For those asking, no, of course we didn’t know about the offensive tweets from Lee’s account,” he tweeted on June 1. “None of us were aware of them Very unfortunate.”
