‘The Bachelor’ Enlists Jodi Baskerville as First Black Executive Producer for the New Seasons
After a public outcry from The Bachelor audience regarding Chris Harrison’s enabling of racism, ABC Entertainment continued moving forward with their diversity initiative.
Jodi Baskerville has worked with the Bachelor franchise for nearly 10 years and has officially been promoted to executive producer. In turn, Baskerville makes history as the first black EP the franchise has hosted.
“Baskerville’s promotion is a major step forward for the franchise.”
— Bachelor Diversity Campaign (@bachdiversity) August 4, 2021
👏🏿👏🏾👏🏽👏🏼👏🏻
Congrats to the newest & FIRST Black EP on @BachelorABC. This is a long needed change in @bachnation. We’re looking forward to next season of #TheBachelorette. https://t.co/HO8EdxpLlA
According to Variety, the producer will begin her new role on set for season 18 of “The Bachelorette.” That season recently began production and is set to premiere this fall.
This upcoming season is also being herald for its work towards proper representation as it stars Michelle Young, former “Bachelor” runner-up, as the third woman of color to be the main star of the show.
steps toward change in #BachelorNation 🌹 can’t wait to see how this plays out in Michelle’s season! https://t.co/lL4t0gIldX
— Kristin Hopkins (@kristinbhopkins) August 4, 2021
This producer change is an overdue step in the right direction for the franchise. The dating series premiered in 2002 and has received consistent critique for its overwhelming lack of BIPOC in its casting choices.
This past season of The Bachelor hosted the most diverse cast in the entire franchise’s history, with Young’s season of The Bachelorette will have suitors that will be half made up of BIPOC people.
Unfortunately, the series still has a long way to go to offer proper representation to their viewers.
It has been nearly two decades since the series began, and it is possible to name the amount of BIPOC leads the franchise has had on only one hand.
The current leave of Harrison as the host ignited a mass outrage to the point of targeted racism toward cast member Rachel Lindsay. With this in mind, the delayed call for diversity may be in part due to the franchise’s unaware demographic.
