See the gallery
The bachelor: women say it all special had Greer Blitzer in the hot seat during a segment. After asking about his breakup with Zach Shallcross on the show, host Jesse Palmer addressed the recent controversy over Greer’s blackface, which made headlines when The single person began airing this season. Greer has come under fire for her previous social media posts where she defended a friend’s decision to pose in blackface as part of a costume. The single person The franchise has been called out for not addressing race-related topics and controversy in the past, which Jesse acknowledged during the special.
“The truth is, as a franchise, we’ve done a very poor job in the past of addressing serious issues head-on,” Jesse admitted to Greer. “We’re not going to miss this opportunity here tonight. I know you later apologized on social media and online, but I want to give you the opportunity to speak up and share your experience with us.
Although Greer was admittedly nervous, she took ownership of his racist actions. “I wanted to talk about this subject. I don’t want to sweep it under the rug,” she shared. “What I failed to mention in my apologies is that what happened was racist. It’s not about intent, it’s about impact. That knowledge to me I knew playing blackface was racist, me defending it was racist, my ignorance was racist. I’m so ashamed. I’m deeply sorry for hurting the black community. I can’t go back in time. All this what I can do is try to be better now and try to be better in my future.
Jesse revealed that Greer had met a professor and diversity/inclusion specialist, Dr Banks, following the controversy. “She drew my attention to how important it is to have an open mind,” Greer explained. “It’s so important to question things and ask and not just do without thinking. Before you speak, think. Before you say something that might hurt someone else. And do your research. So I researched lectures, I really wanted to dive deep into the history of blackface and understand why it was wrong and why it was offensive. I realized that was a symbolism to dehumanize the black community, and so what I said was wrong. Defending that girl was racist and I want to take responsibility for that. I don’t want to excuse him.
Dr. Banks was actually in the audience at women say it all, as well, and Jesse opened the floor to him to continue the conversation. “Thank you for inviting me because I think it’s important to name and speak up when these kinds of issues arise. When racism comes up, be prepared to name it,” Dr Banks said. is that we can’t get out of racism. We can say the right thing, but what are we going to do? What actions are we going to take? That’s why it’s really important to not just be performative, but to educate yourself and be ready to understand the story behind the actions and be ready to do something different.
Click to subscribe to receive our free daily HollywoodLife newsletter to get the hottest celebrity news.