Once the internet discovered Bachelorette contestant Lee Garrett's old tweets, which included racist sentiments, he wasn't exactly a fan favorite on the show. And it didn't help matters when Lee got into an onscreen fight with Kenny King, who was a fan favorite early in the season. In last night's "Men Tell All" special, Lee didn't exactly incur favor with the other men, either.
Lee said that he wanted to learn from his past actions and that he doesn't approve of racism. "I feel like I have a lot to learn," he said on the special. "If I hurt anybody in any way, with a bad joke, I apologize... I did things that were wrong."
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When host Chris Harrison asked Lee about his past statements, the contestant said he didn't like that version of himself, adding that there were things he "needed to fix."
"I completely denounce that and I denounce that Lee. I want to learn," Lee said on the special. "I am sorry for saying things when I was not educated and ignorant in those subjects."
Even with Lee's apology, though, not all of the other Bachelorette contestants seemed to be on his side. Dean Unglert asked Lee why he'd continued tweeting while the show aired, saying he should have issued this apology "two months ago." Kenny also encouraged Lee to own up to his past, and DeMario Jackson suggested Lee learn about Black history. But what really shut Lee down was Rachel Lindsay herself — and she wasn't afraid to criticize his actions.
"You had such an amazing opportunity to be surrounded by different people and different cultures, and you didn't take advantage of that," Rachel told Lee. "I hope that in watching it back, you realize that you were a part of something so great. But in case you didn't, please know that you can exit stage left and meet me backstage. I'd be more than happy to give you a black history lesson and a lesson on women's rights."
Mic. Drop.
The @BacheloretteABC's Men Tell All covered every single, juicy detail that we needed & for that, we give them a ?. https://t.co/7UUC7kJRwn pic.twitter.com/0qRzjvHOnE
— E! Online TV Scoop (@eonlineTV) August 1, 2017
Meanwhile, Kenny took the high road during the special, even hugging Lee at one point. He also suggested that racism may not have been the cause of Lee's "beef" with him during the season.
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"Racism feels a certain way — it's insidious, there's vitriol to it," Kenny said. "As I was trying to make sense of it, it really just felt to me that this dude was out of his league. To me, it was very reactionary. That's what it felt like."
And while he might not have won the Bachelorette season, Chris Harrison did give Kenny a consolation prize — he surprised the wrestler and his daughter, Mackenzie, with tickets to visit Disneyland.
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