Chris Harrison, Ellen Pompeo and More Celebs Weigh in on Kelly Ripa vs ‘The Bachelor’

Credit: John Lamparski/WireImage

Chris Harrison, Ellen Pompeo and More Celebs Weigh in on Kelly Ripa vs ‘The Bachelor’

There have been many intense feuds in the history of Bachelor Nation, but could the biggest one of all be with someone not even associated with the reality dating franchise? After Kelly Ripa shared her honest opinion about the series, the claws from former Bachelor contestants, as well as others, came out — while other celebrities were quick to come to her defense. It all began during a discussion with her Live With Kelly and Ryan cohost, Ryan Seacrest, on the Tuesday, May 14, episode of the morning talk show, when the All My Children alum called both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette “creepy.” And that wasn’t her only comment. “You guys, you know how I feel about the show, it disgusts me,” she said, noting that she thought Cassie Randolph had become the Bachelorette after she and Colton Underwood didn’t get engaged on his season of The Bachelor. “I can’t stand the idea of 25 exceptional women fighting over one ordinary fella, in my opinion. You know how I feel, ladies, we are too special to be arguing over a guy,” Ripa added before jokingly calling the audience out for watching “that gross, gross show.” [jwplayer H3wqiP49-l3ahXupL] While Ripa has long been open about her dislike for the franchise, it was her criticism on Tuesday that prompted people — including the show’s host, Chris Harrison, and creator Mike Fleiss — to speak out on social media. While Harrison tweeted to fans of the show to “watch out” because of Ripa’s criticism, Fleiss opted to take a more direct approach, slamming the New Jersey native and claiming that the “franchise pays” her “salary.” Fellow ABC star Ellen Pompeo, for her part, defended Ripa and slammed Harrison and Fleiss, in return, sparking support from Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes. Scroll down to see which celebrities have weighed in on the Ripa vs. Bachelor Nation feud!

Credit: John Lamparski/WireImage

Chris Harrison, Ellen Pompeo and More Celebs Weigh in on Kelly Ripa vs ‘The Bachelor’

There have been many intense feuds in the history of Bachelor Nation, but could the biggest one of all be with someone not even associated with the reality dating franchise? After Kelly Ripa shared her honest opinion about the series, the claws from former Bachelor contestants, as well as others, came out — while other celebrities were quick to come to her defense. It all began during a discussion with her Live With Kelly and Ryan cohost, Ryan Seacrest, on the Tuesday, May 14, episode of the morning talk show, when the All My Children alum called both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette “creepy.” And that wasn’t her only comment. “You guys, you know how I feel about the show, it disgusts me,” she said, noting that she thought Cassie Randolph had become the Bachelorette after she and Colton Underwood didn’t get engaged on his season of The Bachelor. “I can’t stand the idea of 25 exceptional women fighting over one ordinary fella, in my opinion. You know how I feel, ladies, we are too special to be arguing over a guy,” Ripa added before jokingly calling the audience out for watching “that gross, gross show.” [jwplayer H3wqiP49-l3ahXupL] While Ripa has long been open about her dislike for the franchise, it was her criticism on Tuesday that prompted people — including the show’s host, Chris Harrison, and creator Mike Fleiss — to speak out on social media. While Harrison tweeted to fans of the show to “watch out” because of Ripa’s criticism, Fleiss opted to take a more direct approach, slamming the New Jersey native and claiming that the “franchise pays” her “salary.” Fellow ABC star Ellen Pompeo, for her part, defended Ripa and slammed Harrison and Fleiss, in return, sparking support from Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes. Scroll down to see which celebrities have weighed in on the Ripa vs. Bachelor Nation feud!

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Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon

The fiancés opened up to Us Weekly about their feelings on Ripa’s comments during an interview in June, and they had opposite thoughts. “I personally find it kind of offensive,” Iaconetti said. However, her soon-to-be husband admitted he thinks the talk show host is “very much entitled to her opinion.”

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Wendy Williams

The Ask Wendy author stood up for Ripa on the Friday, May 17 episode of The Wendy Williams Show. “I’m not a fan of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette either,” Williams said. “It’s so stupid, women parading themselves around. It depends on who you are, what you want to do with your life. For me, it’s degrading.” The former radio DJ also slammed Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss, who suggested the reality dating series pays Ripa’s salary. Williams asserted, “As memory serves me, Kelly Ripa has been at ABC … longer than The Bachelor has been on. She jumped into an already successful show, she continued to keep it an already successful show.”

Credit: ABC

Hannah Brown

The season 15 lead came face-to-face with Ripa just two days after her comments made headlines. During their interview, the Alabama native addressed Ripa’s thoughts that the show is about “women fighting” and said that is not how she views it. She later spoke to Access about her encounter with Ripa, and shared that the interview was pleasant, and that Ripa is “entitled to have her opinion.”

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Colton Underwood

The former Bachelor lead took to Twitter on Wednesday, May 15, to share a subtle dig at Ripa. “How mad is Kelly Ripa going to be when The Bachelor wins an Emmy this year? #ThankYouForYourConsideration,” he wrote.

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Arie Luyendyk Jr.

Luyendyk, who was the Bachelor in 2018, dug into the past to blast Ripa, sharing a screenshot of a comment the talk show host wrote to a fan about his relationship with his then-fiancée, Lauren Burnham, not lasting. “All this Kelly Ripa Drama has me worked up,” he wrote alongside the screengrab. “Why tear down relationships, the show is about love. Why so much animosity @kellyripa?”

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Chris Harrison

The Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? host shared a link to Us Weekly’s article on Twitter and wrote: “Look out #BachelorNation ⁦@KellyRipa⁩ is coming after you and your ‘disgusting’ Monday night habit.”

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Ellen Pompeo

The Grey’s Anatomy star didn’t approve of Fleiss’ comments, and shared her thoughts in a tweet on Thursday, May 16. “Okay @fleissmeister... that’s some handle bro! Your show does NOT pay @KellyRipa salary,” she wrote. “Also we don’t attack successful women on our network and men certainly cannot take credit for their success. Don’t get me started on your show cuz I’m a savage.... #bachelorsoooowhite.”

Credit: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival

Mike Fleiss

Ripa seemingly brushed off Fleiss’ jab about the show paying her salary, with a source telling Us Weekly: “People at ABC are laughing at [Harrison and Fleiss] for their attempted clapbacks at Kelly. They should have quit while they were still living in the past. Ryan and Kelly’s show is one of the most lucrative shows on TV. It’s in syndication! The ad revenue, the demo. So to say that the Bachelor is paying Kelly’s paycheck? Just LOL.”

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Shonda Rhimes

The TV producer seemingly agreed with exactly what Pompeo had to say. Though she didn’t write a message of her own, Rhimes retweeted the actress’ tweet to her nearly two million followers.