<em>The Bachelorette</em> and the Empty Redemptions of Reality TV

This post reveals minor plot points for The Bachelorette Season 13.

Here is one of the tweets that Lee Garrett, a recent contestant on The Bachelorette, posted to the internet before he was cast as a potential husband for Rachel Lindsay, the first black Bachelorette in the show’s long history:

“What’s the difference between the NAACP and the KKK? One has a sense of shame to cover their racist-ass faces.”

Here’s another: “I do hate Islam.”

And also: “I wholeheartedly support inhumane torture of terrorists.” And also: “Hillary is the millennial’s version of O.J.” And also: “#Liberalism is a disease.” And also: “When is the last time YOU actually saw a pretty feminist?”

’s producers, who have traditionally given their contestants thorough that they were ignorant of those postings prior to Lee’s coming onto the show. continued that general posture toward Lee’s now-exposed views—shock, outrage, indignation—when, on Monday evening, the singer-songwriter from Nashville joined his fellow eliminated men in a longstanding tradition of the Bachelor franchise: special.