00:00I'm not trying to speak for the entire subculture of people who like reality television, but I am tired.
00:05After finding out that ABC is going to scrap Taylor-Frankie Paul's season of The Bachelorette,
00:09I have been sitting around thinking about why we keep finding ourselves in these stomach-turning situations involving reality television
00:14shows.
00:15Earlier this year, Colton Underwood, the former Bachelor, appeared on season four of The Traitors,
00:19alongside comedian and actor Michael Rapoport.
00:21And these casting choices had some controversy because, at one point, Michael Rapoport had an order of protection placed against
00:26him
00:27from his girlfriend, actress Lily Taylor, and he pled guilty to harassing her.
00:32Similarly, Colton Underwood, a few years back, was accused of stalking and harassing his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Randolph,
00:38including allegedly putting a tracking device on her car.
00:41And both of these casting choices received a fair amount of criticism at the time and in the weeks leading
00:45up to it,
00:46with some fans saying that they were going to be sitting out of the season.
00:48Which leads me to today, where Taylor-Frankie Paul has just had her season of The Bachelorette completely cancelled.
00:53All related to new allegations of domestic violence on top of the 2023 incident that was documented in The Secret
00:59Lives of Mormon Lives.
01:00At the time, she was arrested on charges of aggravated assault, domestic violence in the presence of a child,
01:05child abuse with injury, and criminal mischief.
01:07She later pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. The other charges were dropped.
01:10In spite of that, last summer she was cast as The Bachelorette,
01:13even though it's pretty industry standard that similar charges, aggravated assault, domestic violence,
01:19would disqualify a person from being a contestant on The Bachelor or Bachelorette.
01:22Should things go horribly wrong, it could be perceived as putting someone in harm's way.
01:27So why then, do reality shows seem hell-bent on casting people who could be considered a liability?
01:33As it is, people were already talking about setting out of Taylor's season of The Bachelorette over the Dakota stuff
01:38that played out in Secret Lives of Mormon Lives season 4.
01:40Which, if you want to mess around with your ex, your baby daddy in the weeks, the night before you
01:45leave for a show,
01:46it certainly would not be the first time in Bachelor history.
01:48But for things to escalate as quickly as they have in the last four days or so,
01:52it's making me take another look at 2023 and at reality television in general.
01:56Because I think it's time to start asking, actually it's far past time to start asking,
02:00what the price of entertainment is?
02:02There was actually a show several years ago that was basically a play on The Bachelor,
02:06and it was all about these networks doing whatever it took to make the best, most entertaining television possible.
02:11And I start to feel angry because at the end of the day, people playing these games are all human
02:15beings.
02:16These people are all human beings.
02:18If you are trying to cast characters, people who are outrageous and outlandish but make great television,
02:23it should never be that their actions go beyond cancelable and their actions are actually arrest-worthy.
02:27Because there's a big difference between saying something out of pocket that gets you in hot water on Twitter,
02:31and doing something that puts you in front of a judge.
02:34And I don't know who is to blame here, but it just keeps feeling like someone at the top is
02:37saying,
02:38let's keep pushing the boundaries no matter what the cost is.
02:40Let's overlook someone's past even though we probably shouldn't.
02:43I'm tired of the hard work of the many being destroyed by the poor choices of the few.
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