During the premiere of season 3 of βBachelor In Paradise,β the showβs hyper-masculine, misogynistic id β also known as Chad Johnson β got called out from within. We rarely see truly feminist moments in the βBachelorβ franchise, but last nightβs episode gave us a shero in βBIPβ cast member Sarah Herron.
After witnessing Chad call fellow cast member Lace Morris a βf****** b**chβ and a βc***,β Sarah (with a solid assist from Carly Waddell) had heard enough. Instead of staying silent, she spoke up and called out his sexist, garbage behavior.
βThe way youβre talking about women is so disrespectful,β she says to Chad. βI want nothing to do with it. Nothing,β as Carly claps in approval nearby.
βThatβs hilarious,β says Chad. βNo, itβs not hilarious. Itβs really not,β Sarah shoots back. (Watch a clip of the scene below.)
Of course, instead of responding contritely or taking even a shred of responsibility for his earlier language, Chad lashes out.
In what was one of the more disturbing scenes in of the episode, Chad verbally attacks Sarah. He calls the 29-year-old, who recently launched a non-profit aimed at empowering girls (specifically young girls with physical disabilities), a βone-armed b***h,β before telling her to βsuck that d**k.β
βGrossβ doesnβt even begin to sum up the interaction.
The next morning, in the (more sober) light of day, Chad again fails to take responsibility for his actions.
βI think you were incredibly disrespectful last night,β says Sarah. βAnd you said really horrible things to Lace and about women and to me.β
His response? βItβs joking. Itβs jokes. Why canβt yβall take jokes?β
It should go without saying that physically and verbally attacking the people around you is not OK. But thereβs an extra layer of foul when even after being presented with your actions β and the hurt they have caused β you refuse to own up, instead placing the blame back on to those youβve harmed. (It feels questionable for ABC to have even placed such a volatile person into a setting like βBIP,β but thatβs a conversation for another time.)
βBachelorβ alums rallied around Sarah on Twitter last night as the episode aired:
And though Chad has since (sort of, kind of) apologized (in the press), it seems that Sarah β along with the vast majority of βBachelorβ fans β is just ready to move on from him:
In the hallowed words of BeyoncΓ©: βBoy, bye.β
For more on the βBachelor In Paradiseβ premiere, check out HuffPostβs Here To Make Friends podcast below:
Do people love βThe Bachelor,β βThe Bacheloretteβ and βBachelor in Paradise,β or do they love to hate these shows? Itβs unclear. But here at βHere to Make Friends,β we both love and love to hate them β and we love to snarkily dissect each episode in vivid detail. Podcast edited by Nick Offenberg