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The Bachelor contestant Rachael Kirkconnell has apologized after photos surfaced of her attending an antebellum plantation-themed fraternity formal in 2018. In an Instagram posted Thursday evening, Kirkconnell addressed her “offensive and racist” actions and insisted that she “deserve[s] to be held accountable” by fans. “I don’t think one apology means that I deserve your forgiveness,” she wrote, “But rather I hope I can earn your forgiveness through my future actions.”
Kirkconnell, a white woman who is dating the first Black Bachelor, Matt James, first found herself at the center of the controversy in late January, when photos of her attending an “Old South” event began circulating online. Yahoo reports that shortly after, a TikTok user claimed that Kirkconnell bullied her in high school for dating a Black student (the claim has not been verified).
“While there have been rumors circulating, there have also been truths that have come to light that I need to address, I hear you, and I’m here to say, I was wrong,” wrote Kirkconnell. “At one point, I didn’t recognize how offensive an racist my actions were, but that doesn’t excuse them … I was ignorant, but my ignorance was racist.”
The Bachelor star added that she is “ashamed about [her] lack of education,” and she promised to “continue to learn how to be antiracist” in the wake of this scandal. “Racial progress and unity are impossible without (white) accountability,” continued Kirkconnell. “I will never grow unless I recognize what I have done is wrong.”
Kirkconnell’s statement came just one day after Bachelor host Chris Harrison issued his own apology on the topic. When asked about the Old South photos during an interview with Rachel Lindsay, the first Black Bachelorette, this week, Harrison defended Kirkconnell and argued that “we all need to have a little grace” and “understanding” before “tearing this girl’s life apart.”
Harrison was promptly skewered online (and rightfully so), and on Wednesday, he apologized. “While I do not speak for Rachael Kirkconnell, my intentions were simply to ask for grace in offering her an opportunity to speak on her own behalf,” he wrote on Instagram. “What I now realize I have done is cause harm by wrongly speaking in a manner that perpetuates racism, and for that I am so deeply sorry.”
