Greg Braxton | (TNS) Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — Grant Ellis’ romantic journey on the current season of “The Bachelorette” did not have a happy ending. But instead of nursing a broken heart, he’s getting a fresh start and a breakthrough role as the next star of “The Bachelor.”
The self-proclaimed mama’s boy and former pro basketball player who now works as a day trader will become only the second Black lead of the series, which launched in 2002. The news followed Monday’s episode of “The Bachelorette,” after Ellis was eliminated from the group of suitors courting star Jenn Tran.
The casting of Ellis for Season 29 comes just over four years after Matt James was named the first Black Bachelor. James’ season, which premiered in 2021, was clouded by controversy and turmoil and has been characterized as a defining chapter in the franchise’s decadeslong history of racism and cultural insensitivity.
Ellis’ stint will be a key test of the declaration by executive producers Claire Freeland and Bennett Graebner that they are committed to moving past the toxicity and in a more inclusive direction.
“The core value to this show is that everybody deserves to find love, regardless of race, ethnicity, background, faith,” Freeland said in a recent interview with The Times. “The only way we can do that in a truly fulsome way is to have people on the show that reflect the country we live in.”
Graebner added: “We have a long way to go. But we’re committed to getting there.”
In addition to having predominantly white casts, the lack of Black male leads has been one of the harshest criticisms leveled at “The Bachelor” franchise. Bennett and Graebner said that casting a Black Bachelor was “a priority” but they did not specify at the time of that interview when it would happen.
Graebner said production resources are now in place that were not present during James’ season, “which went wrong on so many levels.”
James’ 2021 quest to find true love went off the rails after photographs surfaced of contestant Rachael Kirkconnell at an antebellum South-themed party. Then-host Chris Harrison defended Kirkconnell in a combative interview with former “Bachelorette” star Rachel Lindsay on “Extra,” where she was a correspondent, which stoked the controversy only further and eventually led to his exit from the franchise after nearly 20 years. (James chose Kirkconnell in the season finale.)
In an interview for his memoir in 2022, James — who is still in a relationship with Kirkconnell — accused the producers of betraying their promise to show him as an accomplished Black man who had overcome many personal and professional challenges. Graebner said in an interview with The Times that they “let Matt down.”
Although producers say that they have taken several steps to correct the wrongs and that the casts have become more culturally diverse, the progress has been bumpy.
Some members of the Bachelor Nation fan base have been aggressive in bullying contestants of color online. And the current season of “The Bachelorette” starring Tran, the franchise’s first Asian lead, has come under fire because of the lack of Asian representation in her dating pool.
In addition, ABC and Warner Bros. Television, which produces “The Bachelor, have declined comment on the status of Jodi Baskerville, who became the franchise’s first Black executive producer in 2021, after James’ season. She has been missing from the closing credits since the season premiere of “The Bachelorette.”
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