According to news reports from the Washington Post all the way to E! News, and TMZ (with varying levels of professionalism), the incident involves a drunken sexual encounter between DeMario and Corinne. Yes, that DeMario and that Corinne. The allegation is that one, or both of them, may have been too drunk to give consent. News sources say that a producer filed a third party complaint when she saw the footage. This triggered the investigation and led to Warner Bros’ decision to indefinitely suspend the entire season.
This is not good.
On the one hand, we’ll never get to find out if Raven and Robby hit it off, see Ben Z. with his shirt off, or witness Taylor and Corinne attempt to passive aggressively drown one another in the Pacific. Our summer break TV schedule just got decidedly less trashy entertaining.
On the other hand, and more importantly, non-consensual sex is rape. Period.
Bachelor in Paradise is a guilty pleasure show about hook-up culture that somehow manages to lead to multiple engagements and marriages each season. I personally find it extremely entertaining and that’s okay; however, sexual assault isn’t funny.
As a vocal fan on the Bachelor franchise and an unrepentant feminist, I get questioned a lot about how I can like a show about a man dating a bunch of women at once. Aside from it being hilarious television, I have a simple response to that critique. Consent.
The crux of what makes these shows work (whether or not you like them) is that the ridiculous antics are consensual. Everyone knows what they’re doing. Everyone is an adult. Everyone is eventually going to pay their mortgages from D-list hosting gigs in Vegas. Everyone is in on the joke. When that line is crossed, as it apparently was on the set of Bachelor in Paradise, it needs to be taken seriously.
Let’s hope everyone is safe, that any victims are being well taken care of, and that the investigation comes to a just conclusion for those involved.
It’s also okay to hope that we’ll still get to see Carly with the bad eyebrows marry Evan the erectile dysfunction expert. That’s just good TV.
What do you think about the allegations? Do you think filming will resume or is Bachelor in Paradise over forever? The Bachelorette returns next Monday, 6/19. Let’s talk in the comments until then.
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