Chris Harrison may not be leaving Bachelor Nation without a fight. The embattled host who has been forced to at least temporarily step down away from the ABC show after defending Rachael Kirkconnell against charges of racism (she attended an antebellum plantation party), has hired power attorney Bryan Freedman, per Page Six.
He’s the same lawyer who represented Gabrielle Union in her fight with NBC over getting ousted from America’s Got Talent.
An insider told Page Six: “Chris has had a spotless record for 20 years … He has always been the good company man, but, after the way he’s been treated by producers and executives over the past couple of weeks, he’s run out of cheeks to turn.”
The pal added, “Now he’s ready to tell the truth about how things really work over there — and he has plenty of evidence to back him up.”
Harrison hosted all 25 seasons of The Bachelor, 16 of The Bachelorette. There has been no official word on how long his leave of absence would be, but The Bachelorette did announced that Kaitlyn Bristowe and Tayshia Adams would co-host the season.
But the first Black Bachelor, Matt James, isn’t ready to run Harrison out of town. He said on The Bill Simmons podcast: “We should be calling him in to do that work that he outlined and wants to do. He’s taking a step back and committed to doing that. I look forward to seeing him doing that.”
James also said that he is not looking for love after splitting from Kirkconnell following the racism scandal. “I’m just solely focused on getting back into that meaningful work in the community and centering myself around projects that are going to elevate all the work that I’ve been working on doing in the city and special interest things that I appreciate outside of reality television.”