A former Bachelor contestant is regretting a tweet she sent during Monday night's The Bachelorette. Leah Block apologized for her insensitive Bachelorette tweet in a Facebook post shared Wednesday. Based on her lengthy statement, it appears that Block is not only sorry for her remark, but has also learned a lot when it comes to why people, including Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay, were upset about what she said.
"I come forward honestly and openly, to extend my sincere apology for the tweet from my account on Monday, June 19th regarding the current season of The Bachelorette," she began the post." The tweet came from a place that humored the failure of representation of minorities in reality TV and belittled the significance of Rachel's presence on the show."
In the now-deleted tweet, Block posted, "I'm sitting here watching @BacheloretteABC and my roommate just sat down on the couch and said 'what is this? @LoveAndHipHop_?' DEAD." The tweet also included a laughing emoji. At the time of the tweet, Bustle reached out to Block for comment, but did not receive a response.
Block could've remained quiet, but she chose not to. It sounds like she actually has reflected on why what she did was wrong. "I acknowledge that entertaining this kind of humor is a passive and careless action that stifles the progress the black community has made in television and continue to make in this industry," she wrote.
The tweet garnered much attention, including a Twitter response from this season's leading lady. In reply to Block's tweet, Lindsay wrote, "Let me know if she wants to meet Lee... they sound like they would have a lot in common #ihavetimetoday." For those unaware, Lee is a Bachelorette contestant on Lindsay's season who has come under scrutiny for his own offensive and racially insensitive tweets that were posted to his now-private Twitter account. (When Bustle reached out about these tweets and Lee's casting on the show, ABC and Warner Bros. declined to comment.)
Block writes that she is going to work on herself and do better to be more aware. "I accept responsibility for my ignorance and as I move forward I will engage in these issues — so I can become an informed ally who would never consider that tweet to be funny in the first place." She added at the end, "We can't make the future better until we make ourselves better. And I'm starting now."
