After a very serious rap session on the season 4 Bachelor in Paradise premiere centering on the oral sex situation that went ‘down’ between contestants Corrine Olympios, 24 and DeMario Jackson, 30, on June 4th poolside, host and situation arbiter Chris Harrison, 45 spoke to People Friday to make it clear that he is not buying the claims by Corinne that she was a ‘victim’.
‘I think people have to be very careful in using the word “victim” because there was not a victim.’
‘There was not an assault. There was not a crime. There was not anything other than what turned out to be just an unfortunate event that they got caught up in.’
Recall that Olympios claimed in a statement on June 14th that ‘something bad obviously took place’ and that ‘as a woman, this [was her] worst nightmare and it has now become [her] reality,’ leaving her with ‘physical and emotional trauma’ as a result.
Corinne never used the word ‘rape’, but she strongly insinuated that the gravity of the situation rose to that level.
Interestingly Corinne was sort of egged on behind the scenes by new Bachelor producer and friend, Shelby Adams prompting many, including myself to cry conspiracy.
Harrison told People, ‘the media and a lot of people quickly jumped to accusations and there were a lot of fabricated stories and bizarre lies about’ Jackson, spurring ’empathy’ from the rest of the cast.’
He went on to say that cast members ‘were quick to defend DeMario because they knew Corinne wasn’t a victim,’ ‘knew she wasn’t hurt and injured in any of this,’ and felt that Jackson was ‘being unjustly accused of something.’
‘The person that was really being attacked was more of DeMario. I guess, maybe it came off as victim blaming, but that’s probably why they felt a little sensitive for DeMario.’
Wow! I’m sort of shocked to see Chris taking such a stand, but I think he is right to do so.
‘It’s not like they blamed Corinne or shamed her,’ ….
‘But when I was sitting there in person, that’s how I took it. I didn’t take it as they were bashing Corinne at all. And they defended her.’
Even though Olympios has been banned from the show, she and Jackson will sit down to explain their perspective on the situation.
Harrison said the interviews ‘will enlighten people to kind of how confusing and how frustrating this was for both of them’.
In regards to the producer who came forward with the claims, Harrison says,
‘They weren’t driving this bus – it was kind of being driven at them,’ he said. ‘They didn’t raise these issues. They didn’t raise the accusations. They didn’t file any complaints, yet they were both caught up in the middle of something that they didn’t ask to be apart of.’
Hmmm, I’m not sure I believe that the producers are innocent in this. I think this may have been part of a concerted effort to destroy the show from within, but we will see what else comes to light.
Bachelor in Paradise airs at 8/7c on ABC Mondays and Tuesdays.