In less than a month, Bachelor in Paradise will premiere on ABC. Typically, this wouldn't really be newsworthy — it's just another reality television show regarded as a guilty pleasure watch. But following the scandal that happened on set during filming last month, which resuled in an internal investigation, potential lawsuits, and the series nearly being cancelled, all eyes are on the first look at the controversial show. And the consensus? It's really, really bad.
The trailer for the fourth season of the series, which premiered during Monday night's episode of The Bachelorette and appears exclusively on PEOPLE, is incredibly tone deaf regarding the severity of the allegations of "misconduct" between two intoxicated contestants, Corinne Olympios and DeMario Jackson. Instead of addressing head-on the circumstances behind the show's production being halted and delayed, the network decide to use concerned tweets from viewers as a hype tool to generate buzz about the show. The show is using the sexual assault scandal to their advantage for self-promo. It's not clever — it's just troll-y.
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The show's nonchalant attitude is deeply concerning and troubling. It feels like they are just blowing everything off, or that this whole scandal was orchestrated to seem dramatic and drudge up headlines. Either way, Twitter agrees and they're not happy.
This Bachelor in Paradise preview tells you everything about how ABC will be handling the allegations of misconduct this season: not well
— Kate Dries (@TheSSKate) July 18, 2017
Milton wrote "Paradise Lost" and "Paradise Found" in anticipation of the very day #BachelorInParadise would recover from a messy scandal.
— Claire Fallon (@ClaireEFallon) July 18, 2017
this poor crab in the Bachelor in Paradise trailer doesn't want to be part of the narrative pic.twitter.com/RtAf4CmdMh
— Alex Abad-Santos (@alex_abads) July 18, 2017
Others are just calling it straight up "dysfunctional" and exploitative.
Should be called "B in dysfunctional hell."
— LEFTY (@LMalted) July 18, 2017
disappointed that #TheBachlorette exploited deans vulnerable situation for views and then #BachelorInParadise did the same w corinne/demario
— kirbaeeee (@kirbey_geissler) July 18, 2017
The only people who seem to be genuinely excited about the trailer and the tone it sets for the season are those receiving paychecks: the contestants. Nothing about the show, its morals, or its promo screams paradise. At this point, no amount of slyly placed tweets can change that.
Well, that was a super tasteless #bip promo. Another reason not to watch.
— Corinne (@corinnenniroc) July 18, 2017
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