Bachelorettes

Two Tennessee citizens brought attention to the nearly all white make-up of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. When the story first broke, ABC and Producer Warner Horizon Television argued that they have had a hard time finding single black people willing to be on the show. According to the Hollywood Reporter, ABC and Warner have released the first indication of their legal stance on the issue. They are pushing to have the class action law-suit dismissed as their casting decisions are protected by the First Amendment.

ABC and producer Warner Horizon Television have given the first indication of the legal defenses that will be brought forward to defeat claims that The Bachelor franchise has violated civil rights laws by deliberately excluding people of color from the roles of the “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette.” In April, two Tennessee citizens launched a class-action lawsuit, a move the defendants believe won’t survive First Amendment hurdles.

The first point of order in this lawsuit is deciding where it will be adjudicated.

The parties have submitted a joint request to temporarily suspend a motion for class certification in favor of first resolving whether the case will proceed in Tennessee or California. The defendants favor the Golden State because all casting decisions in the 23 cycles of the shows took place there and almost all of the material witnesses are located there.

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