ABC Casts its First Black "Bachelor"
by Kristen Chuba
June 12, 2020


Matt James is making history as ABC's first Black Bachelor. The 28-year-old real estate broker, entrepreneur and community organization founder has been tapped as the season 25 lead following days of renewed pressure about the franchise's lack of diversity.

James was previously set to be a contestant on Clare Crawley's forthcoming season of "The Bachelorette" before production was shutdown in March and postponed indefinitely amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"Bachelor Nation" also knows James as the best friend, roommate and business partner to fan-favorite Tyler Cameron; the two have spent the majority of the pandemic quarantined together in Florida, along with former "Bachelorette" Hannah Brown.




“Matt has been on our radar since February, when producers first approached him to join Bachelor Nation, as part of Clare’s season. When filming couldn’t move forward as planned, we were given the benefit of time to get to know Matt and all agreed he would make a perfect Bachelor,” ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke said in a statement announcing the casting Friday.

“We know we have a responsibility to make sure the love stories we’re seeing onscreen are representative of the world we live in and we are proudly in service to our audience. This is just the beginning and we will continue to take action with regard to diversity issues on this franchise. We feel so privileged to have Matt as our first Black Bachelor and we cannot wait to embark on this journey with him.”

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/abc-names-matt-james-as-first-black-bachelor-1297996

Matt James as the first black Bachelor can't right the show's "racist history" (https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-bachelor-cant-right-its-racist-history-with-black-lead-matt-james)

"It’s a positive, if long overdue, sign that the franchise is beginning to take its race problem seriously," says Laura Bradley of this morning's announcement. "But as longtime fans of the franchise well know, it’ll take more than one Black lead to make amends for this franchise’s past failures on race. That The Bachelor is only now announcing its first Black lead, amid widespread Black Lives Matter protests in response to the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black Americans by police, is ironic, given the fact that the show almost had a Black Bachelor this year. Mike Johnson, a frontrunner during Hannah Brown’s season, was a top candidate for the role—but producers snubbed him, choosing instead the shockingly uncharismatic walking train wreck Peter Weber. (Hannah Brown, ironically, has spent the past few weeks apologizing for using the N-word while singing a song on Instagram Live.) The Matt James announcement, made on Friday’s Good Morning America, comes after Rachel Lindsay, the first Black Bachelorette, threatened to cut ties with the Bachelor-verse should producers fail to name a Black Bachelor for the upcoming season. She and several other candidates signed a Change.org petition calling for a Black lead in Season 25."

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Rachel Lindsay says it's hard not to see the Matt James pick as a "knee-jerk reaction" (https://www.tmz.com/2020/06/12/the-bachelor-casts-first-black-lead-matt-james-clare-crawley-season/): "It would be remiss of me to not point out that based on the current climate it feels like a knee-jerk reaction and a result of societal pressure," she says.
Mike Johnson reacts to James' casting by saying "don't feel bad for me at all" (https://www.thewrap.com/mike-johnson-matt-james-first-black-bachelor/): “I just want to give a huge shout out to Matt James as the new Bachelor, congrats bruh,” Johnson said in an Instagram video. “I want to give a huge shoutout to ABC. They listened to us. I’m giving you guys a shoutout, the fans. Love you guys so much, they listened to you guys. You guys marched in, sent all these emails… and they listened to you guys. Give yourself a pat on the back, seriously, that’s amazing.”
Some Bachelor fans question why Mike Johnson wasn't picked as the first black lead over James (https://hollywoodlife.com/2020/06/12/the-bachelor-mike-johnson-black-lead-tweets/)
James credits Tyler Cameron's late mom for nominating him for The Bachelorette (https://www.etonline.com/new-bachelor-matt-james-on-how-tyler-camerons-late-mother-nominated-him-for-the-show-exclusive)
James goes pantsless in his first interview as The Bachelor (https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/matt-james-does-1st-bachelor-interview-without-wearing-pants/)

Congrats to Matt James on making history