When you come for the queen, you best be prepared for her retort! It’s been less than 24 hours since Kelly Ripa voiced her distaste for the premise The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are based on. Namely, that “25 exceptional women fighting over one ordinary fella.” That comment in turn led Chris Harrison and Bachelor producer Mike Fleiss to turn all of Bachelor Nation on the Live With Kelly and Ryan star, with Fleiss insinuating the dating competition show pays Ripa’s salary.
Well, he’s probably regretting that big time today. Per People, a source close to Ripa has responded on the hosts behast, and guys, it’s savage: “It seems the feat of rejection runs deep over there. Do these guys really want to bring attention to the fact that people should stop and look more closely at the completely outdated misogynistic nature of this show and its offensive premise of demeaning its participants?”
The source continued: “They can’t handle lighthearted criticism from a successful woman who has been on TV longer than their contestants have been alive. Kelly’s time at Live predates these shows by years, so if anything, her success in syndication and promotion of these shows pays their salaries.”
Shots. Fired.
This article was originally published May 15.
Welp, that escalated quickly. ICYMI, Kelly Ripa weighed in on The Bachelorette franchise during Live with Kelly and Ryan on Tuesday morning, noting that the show “disgusts” her — undeterred by the fact that she shares a network with the reality dating series. Mere hours later, two of Bachelor Nation’s most prominent figures went in on Ripa for her negative comments. Who knows? By the time the dust settles on the blowback, this might actually be the most dramatic season of The Bachelorette yet… behind the scenes, at least.
Here’s what has transpired so far. During Tuesday’s episode of Live, co-host Ryan Seacrest announced to the audience that current bachelorette Hannah Brown would be paying Live a visit this week. This prompted Ripa to say, “You guys know how I feel about the show; it disgusts me.” She went on to describe how particularly problematic she found The Bachelor. “I couldn’t stand the idea of 25 exceptional women fighting over one ordinary fella, in my opinion. We are too special to be arguing over a guy,” she pointed out, calling it a “gross, gross show.” Clearly, her feelings about The Bachelorette aren’t far off, considering she dubbed it “all creepy” when watching clips from Monday’s season premiere.
And so, yeah, shots fired. First to fire back was Bachelor and Bachelorette host Chris Harrison, who essentially threw Ripa to the wolves — aka the franchise’s passionate fan base. “Look out #BachelorNation @KellyRipa is coming after you and your ‘disgusting’ Monday night habit,” he tweeted on Tuesday, sharing Us Weekly’s article about Ripa’s original comments.
https://twitter.com/chrisbharrison/status/1128471355010179072
But Harrison wasn’t the only one Ripa riled up with her critique. Bachelor Nation creator Mike Fleiss also took to Twitter to deliver a pointed barb. “Easy, @KellyRipa… #TheBachelor franchise pays your salary!” he wrote on Tuesday. Yowch. Granted, the whole question of where Ripa’s salary comes from probably isn’t that cut-and-dry, but still — because Live is largely syndicated on ABC and all ABC owned-and-operated stations, Fleiss’ logic could have at least a modicum of merit.
Easy, @KellyRipa … #TheBachelor franchise pays your salary!
— Mike Fleiss (@fleissmeister) May 15, 2019
Of course, this drama likely isn’t over yet. As of right now, Ripa hasn’t responded to the reaction from Harrison or Fleiss. Not to mention, she will be sitting down with Brown to discuss all things Bachelorette this week (“I can’t wait to talk her out of it!” Ripa joked on Tuesday’s show.) And it remains to be seen whether ABC will issue a statement on the matter or, more to the point, make Ripa issue one.
Stay tuned, fam. This could get more cutthroat than a rose ceremony.
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