New details continue to come out surrounding the filming of Bachelor in Paradise Season 4 being put on hold. On Twitter Sunday, June 11, DeMario Jackson seemingly responded to the BiP allegations surrounding him and another female contestant, which allegedly may involve an issue of consent. A user wrote to Jackson, "Sooooo @demariojackson_ you can't follow me without me asking you...." He then responded, "hahahaha." The same person tweeted him again and said, "Black women watching you on tv.... WE NEED ANSWERS! Lmaoooo" To that, Jackson replied, "ALT FACTS."
Update: In a video posted by TMZ, Jackson says "no comment" in response to numerous questions about the alleged incident. Asked if he's upset about reports alleging that Olympios claims she did not give consent, Jackson responded, ""No, no. I'm all good."
Update #2: On Wednesday, June 14, Corinne Olympios' rep released a statement about the Bachelor In Paradise allegations to Bustle:
“I am a victim and have spent the last week trying to make sense of what happened on June 4. Although I have little memory of that night, something bad obviously took place, which I understand is why production on the show has now been suspended and a producer on the show has filed a complaint against the production. As a woman, this is my worst nightmare and it has now become my reality. As I pursue the details and facts surrounding that night and the immediate days after, I have retained a group of professionals to ensure that what happened on June 4 comes to light and I can continue my life, including hiring an attorney to obtain justice and seeking therapy to begin dealing with the physical and emotional trauma stemming from that evening.”
Update #3: On the evening of Wednesday, June 14, Jackson released a statement about Olympios' allegations to E! News:
"It's unfortunate that my character and family name has been assassinated this past week with false claims and malicious allegations. I will be taking swift and appropriate legal action until my name is cleared and, per the advice of legal counsel, will be seeking all available remedies entitled to me under the laws."
Update #4: On June 20, an ABC spokesperson provided the following statement to Bustle:
“We appreciate the swift and complete investigation by Warner Bros. into allegations of misconduct on the set of ‘Bachelor in Paradise.’ Given their results, the series will resume production, and will air this summer on ABC.”
Warner Bros.' statement to Bustle read,
"As we previously stated, we recently became aware of allegations regarding an incident on the set of Bachelor in Paradise in Mexico. We take all such allegations seriously. The safety, security and well-being of the cast and crew is our number one concern, and we suspended filming so that the allegations could be investigated immediately and thoroughly. Our internal investigation, conducted with the assistance of an outside law firm, has now been completed. Out of respect for the privacy interests of those involved, we do not intend to release the videotape of the incident. We can say, however, that the tape does not support any charge of misconduct by a cast member. Nor does the tape show, contrary to many press reports, that the safety of any cast member was ever in jeopardy. Production on this season of Bachelor in Paradise will be resuming, and we plan to implement certain changes to the show’s policies and procedures to enhance and further ensure the safety and security of all participants.”
Update #5: On Tuesday, Corinne Olympios' lawyer Martin Singer released a statement to Bustle that read,
“It needs to be made crystal clear that production of 'Bachelor in Paradise' was shut down because of multiple complaints received from 'BIP' producers and crew members on the set. It was not shut down due to any complaint filed by Corinne against anyone. It comes as no surprise that Warner Bros., as a result of its own internal Investigation, would state that no wrong doing had occurred. Our own investigation will continue based on multiple new witnesses coming forward revealing what they saw and heard.”
Earlier: On Sunday, The Hollywood Reporter received a statement from Warner Bros. confirming that production on Season 4 of the ABC reality series had been suspended because of "allegations of misconduct" on the set. The statement reads in full:
We have become aware of allegations of misconduct on the set of Bachelor in Paradise in Mexico. We have suspended production and we are conducting a thorough investigation of these allegations. Once the investigation is complete, we will take appropriate responsive action.
On Monday, People released a report alleging that the suspension is due to an issue of consent between two contestants. The outlet reports there may have been an alleged nonconsensual sexual encounter between Jackson and a female contestant, who TMZ reports is Corinne Olympios. People's report did not list the name of the other party allegedly involved. Bustle has reached out to Jackson and Olympios for comment, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
Sources claiming to be close to Jackson claimed to TMZ that he engaged in oral sex with Olympios. The sources did not say anything about consent being an issue.
On Monday, TMZ reported sources close to Olympios claimed she does not remember what happened between herself and Jackson and allegedly did not consent. According to TMZ, Olympios allegedly "doesn't fully blame" Jackson, because like herself, he was allegedly drunk. TMZ reports Olympios is allegedly faulting producers for not intervening and she has also hired a lawyer. Bustle reached out to Warner Bros. for comment on this report.
Jackson has yet to give an official statement on the matter, but he has been actively tweeting. In addition to the tweets listed above, Jackson tweeted in response to other Twitter users on June 11 about baseball and in response to a gif someone posted.
