Latest / The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast / S21, #4 1/2: Breaking News: Bachelor Out of Paradise

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S21, #4 1/2: Breaking News: Bachelor Out of Paradise · The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcasts brought to
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Speaker 1: you by zeal in Home Massages delivered to you download
0:06
Speaker 1: the zeal Apple. I'll go to zeal dot comed He's
0:08
Speaker 1: from a code Almost Famous to get off your first
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Speaker 1: in home onto mad Massage. I'm Ben, and you're listening
0:17
Speaker 1: to the Almost Famous podcast on iHeart Radio edition. It
0:22
Speaker 1: is a special edition. Ashley and I have decided to
0:26
Speaker 1: jump on the phone with each other today. I'm actually
0:28
Speaker 1: currently in Denver. Actually hid him at work. I'm yeah,
0:33
Speaker 1: don't tell anybody, but I'm sitting in my office up
0:36
Speaker 1: in the mountains. UM talking to Ashley about some breaking news,
0:42
Speaker 1: UM that a lot of people have already heard about,
0:45
Speaker 1: UM regarding Bachelor in Paradise. And we're here today to
0:50
Speaker 1: UM maybe not share our opinion on the matter, but
0:55
Speaker 1: our perspective coming from two people who have both participate
1:00
Speaker 1: hated in this show or in this franchise. Ashley has
1:02
Speaker 1: been the paradise I have not, and we just want
1:06
Speaker 1: to try to shed some light on a situation that
1:09
Speaker 1: is unfortunate, to say the least. UM. We hope by
1:13
Speaker 1: the end of the episode we both have information, UM
1:17
Speaker 1: that is clear. UH, that is truth and then allow
1:23
Speaker 1: everybody out there, all of our listeners, to form their
1:26
Speaker 1: own opinions, and we will follow this story as it
1:30
Speaker 1: plays out. But first, Ashley, yes, do you think you know?
1:35
Speaker 1: We've been getting tweets all weekend about people wanting us
1:38
Speaker 1: to discuss this topic on the podcast, and you know,
1:41
Speaker 1: the first forty eight hours, I was like, no way,
1:43
Speaker 1: there's no way I'm gonna talk about this. I'm too
1:45
Speaker 1: close to it, I am too close to the people
1:48
Speaker 1: that are involved in it, and it's such a sensitive subject.
1:51
Speaker 1: I really I just don't need to put my voice
1:53
Speaker 1: out there when you know, you and I don't really
1:55
Speaker 1: know facts. We're just really hearing hearsay from all these
1:59
Speaker 1: different sources. So before we do divulge and talk to
2:05
Speaker 1: a reporter about some real straight facts, and we wanted
2:09
Speaker 1: you guys to be able to come here to us,
2:12
Speaker 1: who we like to think of as being like very
2:14
Speaker 1: reliable sources in Bachelor Nation. I wanted to talk about
2:20
Speaker 1: how my experience on The Bachelor and specifically Bachelor in
2:23
Speaker 1: Paradise has been over the past two years. So it's
2:26
Speaker 1: kind of interesting the timing on this because over the
2:28
Speaker 1: past couple of months, I have spent so much time
2:31
Speaker 1: thinking about how grateful I am for The Bachelor franchise.
2:34
Speaker 1: Over the past three years, The Bachelor has allowed me
2:37
Speaker 1: to connect with so many women who tell me that
2:40
Speaker 1: watching me on the shows has helped them feel like
2:43
Speaker 1: they're not alone. By seeing my raw vulnerability, honesty, and
2:48
Speaker 1: just straight up messiness. It makes them feel quote normal.
2:53
Speaker 1: In a world of picture perfect airbrush imagery. We would
2:57
Speaker 1: never have had this platform to commu unicate with each
3:00
Speaker 1: other if it weren't for The Bachelor. It's just one
3:02
Speaker 1: of the very many things that I am so thankful
3:04
Speaker 1: for when it comes to this franchise. And yes, I
3:08
Speaker 1: cried a lot, and I got my heartbroken and both
3:11
Speaker 1: of my stints in Paradise, and because of those experiences,
3:14
Speaker 1: I've actually become a stronger person. And when I think
3:18
Speaker 1: of Paradise, I don't think of sadness, as you may
3:20
Speaker 1: assume from the crier. I think about the lifelong friends
3:24
Speaker 1: I've made on camera and off, and how amazing it
3:27
Speaker 1: is that I have such a tight knit, ever expanding
3:30
Speaker 1: group of friends. I think about all the love and
3:33
Speaker 1: passion that I felt in Paradise, and not the tears
3:36
Speaker 1: I shed. I think about the kisses that made my
3:39
Speaker 1: head spin, not the breakups that made my heartache. I
3:42
Speaker 1: think about watching four of my good friends find their
3:46
Speaker 1: great love, the person that they will presumably be with
3:49
Speaker 1: for the rest of their lives, and the baby that
3:51
Speaker 1: will be born in September from the love that was
3:54
Speaker 1: found in Paradise. It's sad. It's sad that this summer's
3:58
Speaker 1: cast will probably not be to have a similar experience
4:01
Speaker 1: to my own. And I've been thinking about all those
4:04
Speaker 1: affected since the news broke, and Ben and I have
4:06
Speaker 1: of course been sending our love to everyone involved. That
4:10
Speaker 1: being said, please keep in mind that during this podcast,
4:12
Speaker 1: but and I were in president in Paradise during this
4:15
Speaker 1: week's unfortunate moments, and we are trying to figure out
4:18
Speaker 1: the mystery just like you guys are. There are so
4:22
Speaker 1: many rumors and unconfirmed reports here on the Almost famous podcast.
4:25
Speaker 1: We are trying to get the real story out there.
4:28
Speaker 1: Just remember this isn't just a salacious story to Ben
4:31
Speaker 1: and I. This is our second family we're talking about.
4:34
Speaker 1: You know, Ashley, You're right and Um, thank you for
4:38
Speaker 1: sharing your thoughts. I've never been to Paradise. Um, I
4:41
Speaker 1: don't know how paradise works. I don't know how the
4:47
Speaker 1: relationships work. I don't know the process of meeting somebody
4:50
Speaker 1: in paradise. I honestly don't know the boundaries in paradise,
4:53
Speaker 1: what's appropriate and what's not. And so today I'm here
4:57
Speaker 1: to learn more myself. I think you're right. You are
5:00
Speaker 1: close to the situation. You're friends with crant Um, You're
5:04
Speaker 1: friends with a lot of people that were there during
5:07
Speaker 1: this event. And for you to share, I guess, um
5:12
Speaker 1: or comment on this situation doesn't seem fair to you.
5:17
Speaker 1: It doesn't seem fair to the people involved. Um, it
5:19
Speaker 1: doesn't seem fair to the franchise. And so today we're
5:23
Speaker 1: gonna this podcast is gonna feel different. It's gonna feel
5:27
Speaker 1: more journalistic. UM. You know, I haven't written anything down, UM,
5:34
Speaker 1: mostly because I don't know what to say entering into
5:37
Speaker 1: this phone call with you. UM, I'm nerves, I'm nervous,
5:41
Speaker 1: I'm anxiously. I don't I don't feel great about this
5:43
Speaker 1: talking about this topic, mostly because I don't know the truth.
5:50
Speaker 1: And that's that has to be clear as we move
5:53
Speaker 1: forward throughout this whole episode, is I don't know what's
5:56
Speaker 1: true and what's not. I was not there. You were
5:58
Speaker 1: not there. Everything is hearsay, um the and that's tough.
6:05
Speaker 1: But what I will say, my only perspective I have
6:08
Speaker 1: on this is from my experience on The Bachelor and Bachelorte.
6:12
Speaker 1: You know, I think you said it during um your
6:15
Speaker 1: right up. A lot of these people who were cast
6:20
Speaker 1: in Bachelor Paradise I consider friends. A lot of the
6:23
Speaker 1: people that work on this show I consider friends and family.
6:27
Speaker 1: They have seen me and my worst. They've seen me
6:30
Speaker 1: at my best. They've seen me confused, they've seen me um.
6:35
Speaker 1: You know I'm getting emotionally even kind of talking to
6:37
Speaker 1: you about it. They they have seen me and been
6:39
Speaker 1: beside me in moments um that I'm not proud of
6:43
Speaker 1: and moments that I am proud of. They see me
6:45
Speaker 1: when I was reading this lot, when I was writing
6:47
Speaker 1: this last night, it's it's no surprise that I had
6:50
Speaker 1: a lump in my throughout reading it, just thinking about
6:52
Speaker 1: this amazing group of people that I have around me
6:55
Speaker 1: who have accepted me at not only my best, but
6:59
Speaker 1: my absolute or you're you're right, And I think I
7:05
Speaker 1: think the show The Bachelor and Bachelor I have has
7:09
Speaker 1: been given this. Um, I don't want to say. People
7:15
Speaker 1: assume things about the show. They assume situations are set up,
7:18
Speaker 1: they assume people are put forced into different scenarios. Assume
7:24
Speaker 1: that we are forced to drink all the time. There
7:27
Speaker 1: exactly they assumed. They assume that we're forced to drink.
7:31
Speaker 1: And and in my experience, those were never the case. Um,
7:36
Speaker 1: I was never forced into anything. I was talked through
7:40
Speaker 1: as a friend in situations if I was confused, they
7:43
Speaker 1: would sit with me and allow me to to speak
7:45
Speaker 1: my mind and help me process. And yes, there is
7:49
Speaker 1: producing that is done. It's a show. You know, there
7:52
Speaker 1: are situations that that happened that they need to get
7:56
Speaker 1: something out of it, But that's never a forced situation.
7:59
Speaker 1: They don't write a storyline before the season starts. The
8:04
Speaker 1: storyline makes itself up each and every day during the
8:08
Speaker 1: process of filming The Bachelor at Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise. Um,
8:13
Speaker 1: with that said, these people are humans. We've talked about
8:17
Speaker 1: it in the first couple of weeks of this show,
8:19
Speaker 1: this this podcast. People make mistakes. They're not perfect. They're
8:25
Speaker 1: not going to be perfect at their job. And and
8:27
Speaker 1: and the one thing that comes out of this whole
8:29
Speaker 1: scenario is did somebody make a mistake, that a producer
8:33
Speaker 1: make a mistake with things taken too far. I don't know,
8:36
Speaker 1: but if it did, you have to understand that they
8:40
Speaker 1: were just trying to portray a storyline that was existing
8:46
Speaker 1: in front of them. My perspective on this show is
8:52
Speaker 1: that there're three d to four hundred people in Mexico
8:56
Speaker 1: who are now without jobs. That's tough. There's three hundred
9:00
Speaker 1: to four hund people who are not millionaires. You know,
9:03
Speaker 1: Chris Harrison is not the only person that works on
9:05
Speaker 1: the show. Their makeup, there's hair, there's cameras, there sound,
9:11
Speaker 1: there's art, there's travel, there's date, producers. All these people
9:16
Speaker 1: work on the show. And now you know, if the
9:20
Speaker 1: situation existed, how you know, even in the worst case scenario,
9:24
Speaker 1: it is terrible and nobody should support it. But what
9:29
Speaker 1: we should support and what I want every viewer and
9:31
Speaker 1: every listener no, is that there are people who are
9:34
Speaker 1: now without a job and we should should feel for them,
9:37
Speaker 1: just like it would happen to any unfortunate event if
9:40
Speaker 1: somebody would lose a job. Um perfectly said. So as
9:47
Speaker 1: as actual and I can move forward, I don't have
9:50
Speaker 1: a comment. I don't I wish I did. I wish
9:53
Speaker 1: I could tell you all this is exactly what happened.
9:56
Speaker 1: I don't have that. But we are going to talk
9:58
Speaker 1: to somebody that I believe has done a good job
10:03
Speaker 1: at investigating the situation. We're gonna allow her to speak.
10:09
Speaker 1: Her name is Jackie Strauss from the Hollywood Reporter, and
10:13
Speaker 1: soon we'll get her onto this podcast. And and because
10:16
Speaker 1: actually is still close to the situation, and she has
10:19
Speaker 1: asked and I have agreed to kind of lead that
10:21
Speaker 1: discussion because I think for Ashley to dive too much
10:24
Speaker 1: into this, she's going to be very biased. I'm gonna
10:27
Speaker 1: even be biased. I'm gonna fight that. Um. But we're
10:30
Speaker 1: gonna talk to Jackie and see what she or listened
10:33
Speaker 1: to what she has found out. Until then, Ashley, as
10:39
Speaker 1: all this played out over the last week or a
10:42
Speaker 1: few days, I'm sure your heart has been pulled in
10:45
Speaker 1: a thousand different directions. Right. You're friends with kran You're
10:48
Speaker 1: friends with a lot of people that work on the show. UM.
10:51
Speaker 1: From a former cast member on Bachelor in Paradise perspective,
10:57
Speaker 1: what are the things that stand out to the most,
10:58
Speaker 1: that is most was detrimental not only for Bachelor in Paradise,
11:04
Speaker 1: but also for I believe I want to hear from
11:06
Speaker 1: your production of the cast that had kind of paused
11:08
Speaker 1: their lives to be a part of Bachelor in Paradise. Well,
11:12
Speaker 1: you should have seen the group messages that were going
11:15
Speaker 1: on during Saturday night Sunday when all this was breaking.
11:19
Speaker 1: It was just there. It was a mix of people
11:22
Speaker 1: that are here in past alums and then current contestants,
11:26
Speaker 1: and nobody was giving facts. Everybody's just like there's something
11:29
Speaker 1: going on. And it was a very eerie, dark cloud
11:33
Speaker 1: that was just over the thought of paradise. It was
11:36
Speaker 1: very weird, like we couldn't figure out a word other
11:38
Speaker 1: than eerie because maybe it was just like a mystery
11:41
Speaker 1: and nobody and and it was dark, but nobody knew
11:46
Speaker 1: what was going on. Really, even the cast that was there,
11:50
Speaker 1: they're unclear as to really necessarily what's going on. And
11:54
Speaker 1: then I get home. So I was on a plane
11:57
Speaker 1: for five hours, you know, and I didn't have wife
12:00
Speaker 1: by the entire time, and what I landed to five
12:02
Speaker 1: hours later was completely different stories than what I took
12:06
Speaker 1: off with. And it was insane. And then my feelings
12:09
Speaker 1: would change would go from like dark and eerie to
12:11
Speaker 1: being like, oh, maybe this is all a business misunderstanding
12:14
Speaker 1: and maybe it's just not a big deal and they'll
12:16
Speaker 1: resume next week. Who knows. So I kept going back
12:19
Speaker 1: and forth, feeling for different people and having so many
12:24
Speaker 1: a big variety of feelings for each individual person they're
12:27
Speaker 1: depending on the rumors that were going on. And then
12:31
Speaker 1: I think about everybody who's not being able to experience
12:34
Speaker 1: the amazing experience that was Paradise for me the past
12:37
Speaker 1: two years. And of course, yeah, everybody who works there
12:41
Speaker 1: and who they put so much creative energy into this show.
12:46
Speaker 1: They love this show. The fans are obsessed with the show.
12:48
Speaker 1: The more I talked to fans, the more that they
12:51
Speaker 1: don't even care about the bachelor in the Bacheloretta as
12:54
Speaker 1: much anymore, and they just wait for Paradise. And every
12:57
Speaker 1: fan that I've talked to you in the past forty
12:59
Speaker 1: eight hours is so upset that their favorite show is
13:03
Speaker 1: probably not happening this year, especially since they've gotten so
13:06
Speaker 1: close and attached to these characters and they wanted to
13:08
Speaker 1: see them mingle in this atmosphere and this is just
13:11
Speaker 1: something that they're going to have to skip out on. Yeah,
13:14
Speaker 1: So I guess that actually this brings up and I
13:17
Speaker 1: want to give you a chance here. And I know
13:18
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm um interviewing you, but in a sense,
13:22
Speaker 1: I am right. You're a former cast member, You're You're
13:25
Speaker 1: somebody that I want to hear from that that I
13:27
Speaker 1: think people out there want to hear from. So it
13:29
Speaker 1: sounds like, as you talked about this, you you went
13:31
Speaker 1: into two things I want to hear more about. One
13:33
Speaker 1: is the group thread that people are a part of.
13:35
Speaker 1: That it's kind of bouncing information off of each other,
13:38
Speaker 1: telling them, telling you and others what they heard, what
13:41
Speaker 1: they maybe saw if they were down there during that time, um,
13:45
Speaker 1: what they're feeling towards the situation. So you're saying, if
13:48
Speaker 1: I'm hearing you correctly, this thread kind of went from
13:50
Speaker 1: this dark and and kind of cloudy depiction of what
13:54
Speaker 1: was going on in the paradise. So when you landed,
13:56
Speaker 1: you kind of felt like, wait, maybe the accusation ends,
14:00
Speaker 1: and maybe the worst case scenario that we were hearing
14:02
Speaker 1: initially might not be the whole truth. Right. I think
14:08
Speaker 1: when the news first broke and we were thinking, wow,
14:12
Speaker 1: they just canceled the season or they just stopped filming,
14:15
Speaker 1: they halted production. We thought the very very worst. And
14:19
Speaker 1: then as I get off this plane and new reports
14:22
Speaker 1: are coming out, all unconfirmed, and there's a zillion billion
14:25
Speaker 1: stories that have been coming at me, and people are
14:28
Speaker 1: asking you to explain them, and I'm like, honestly, it's
14:30
Speaker 1: so pec I can't even put it together. And as
14:34
Speaker 1: far as I know, that's where that's where it is
14:36
Speaker 1: right now, still a whole bunch of unconfirmed stories. So
14:40
Speaker 1: at first it seemed like it was going to be
14:42
Speaker 1: a simple story, but now there are a zillion different
14:46
Speaker 1: versions of it and so many unconfirmed facts, and that's
14:49
Speaker 1: where we are now. Still, You're right, and I'm hearing you.
14:53
Speaker 1: And and actually I've talked to you many times, and
14:55
Speaker 1: I can tell that this is not an easy situation
14:57
Speaker 1: for you to talk about. That your thought, your own
15:01
Speaker 1: thoughts are kind of scrambled in your own mind. You know,
15:03
Speaker 1: as I've talked to you about this, trying to prepare
15:05
Speaker 1: for this, this podcast, you know you don't have any
15:09
Speaker 1: strong feelings or emotions or opinions on this, because honestly,
15:14
Speaker 1: we don't know. And so I want, I just want
15:17
Speaker 1: to thank you for even being willing to talk about it.
15:20
Speaker 1: Because I know how hard this is. You're close to
15:21
Speaker 1: the situation, you care about these people, you care about
15:23
Speaker 1: this show, you care about the people that work on
15:25
Speaker 1: this show, and so everything that you're speaking of is
15:28
Speaker 1: coming from from a place of confusion, emotion and for
15:33
Speaker 1: all parties involved, everyone sadness, and and so thank you
15:37
Speaker 1: for talking about it, um. And and we're gonna try
15:40
Speaker 1: to clear up some of this stuff, you know, We're
15:42
Speaker 1: gonna try to give Ashley um some some cold hard facts.
15:46
Speaker 1: I'm going to try to learn a perspective on it
15:47
Speaker 1: that maybe I haven't heard yet. I don't know a
15:49
Speaker 1: lot about this situation yet. So with that, I want
15:51
Speaker 1: to call in Jackie Strauss from the Hollywood Reporter. Hi, guys,
15:55
Speaker 1: how's it going. It's confusing, That's how it's going. Yeah,
16:00
Speaker 1: I would say so as well over here. UM. So
16:03
Speaker 1: we asked Jackie to come on the podcast because the
16:07
Speaker 1: Hollywood Reporter UM has done a really good job at
16:12
Speaker 1: figuring out or trying to figure out the facts, or
16:15
Speaker 1: at least gathering the information to the story. UM. I
16:18
Speaker 1: think with this story alone, they feel like it is
16:22
Speaker 1: such a massive story that they have to decipher all
16:27
Speaker 1: the information process it and make sure that they get
16:30
Speaker 1: the story straight. And so Jackie has done a great
16:32
Speaker 1: job at that so far. UM. I believe she's going
16:35
Speaker 1: to continue to do that, And so I want to
16:37
Speaker 1: ask Jackie, Jackie, can you just give us a little
16:42
Speaker 1: brief synopsis of what exactly happened Sunday in Paradise. Well,
16:49
Speaker 1: thank you for saying that. UM. You know, I do
16:53
Speaker 1: think that Chris Harrison had a good point when he
16:56
Speaker 1: spoke out today addressing all of the missing from nation
17:00
Speaker 1: and information that is out there. And so that's why
17:02
Speaker 1: I do, like you said, want to stress that I'm
17:05
Speaker 1: really speaking on what has been confirmed and what we've
17:08
Speaker 1: been able to report on from what we know, UM.
17:11
Speaker 1: And that's why we have not identified the names of
17:15
Speaker 1: the contestants that are allegedly involved, UM, and we're not
17:19
Speaker 1: going to do so until they speak out or until
17:22
Speaker 1: the show identifies them. UM. But what we know about
17:26
Speaker 1: what happened on Sunday is that a producer suspected misconduct
17:31
Speaker 1: on the set UM and filed a complaint to Warner Brothers,
17:34
Speaker 1: which is the production company that produces The Bachelor and
17:38
Speaker 1: The Bachelor's thin off UM. And that's how they're instructive
17:42
Speaker 1: to handle this situation if it does come up. Uh.
17:45
Speaker 1: No charges have been filed and neither of the calf
17:49
Speaker 1: mates allegedly involved have spoken out, so right now it's
17:51
Speaker 1: an internal investigation from Warner Brothers and this type of
17:55
Speaker 1: an investigation can typically take one to two weeks um,
18:00
Speaker 1: which is why I believe Chris probably felt the need
18:03
Speaker 1: to speak out and tell the fans to be patient
18:06
Speaker 1: as they get to the bottom of this, because, you know,
18:09
Speaker 1: speaking to are reliable sources, there are a lot of
18:14
Speaker 1: differing their differing perspectives, and there's differing viewpoints, and it
18:18
Speaker 1: does seem, as you were mentioning before that it's taking
18:21
Speaker 1: a lot to get to the bottom of what actually happened. Definitely.
18:27
Speaker 1: So as far as confirmed information now, um, as you
18:31
Speaker 1: mentioned before, the two the members, I guess we can't
18:34
Speaker 1: even say to the members involved in this event, they
18:37
Speaker 1: have not been confirmed correct. Correct, And it happened on
18:42
Speaker 1: the first day of filming, which would have been a
18:44
Speaker 1: week ago Sunday. Yes, that's what we have reported, but
18:51
Speaker 1: they didn't shut down immediately. I think a lot of
18:53
Speaker 1: people are confused about this, correct, Yeah, it was. It
18:57
Speaker 1: appears to be another day of filming when the contestants
19:01
Speaker 1: who were involved were approached with the situation, and that's
19:05
Speaker 1: when the camera shut down, and from there the investigation began,
19:10
Speaker 1: which then went into two days of interviewing the entire cast,
19:17
Speaker 1: which continued on for another couple of days of interviewing
19:19
Speaker 1: the entire crew. I mean, it's a lot of people
19:22
Speaker 1: to get through. Uh, you know, sixteen of the cast
19:25
Speaker 1: was officially announced, but as we know now from photos
19:28
Speaker 1: getting out, there were more that we're already there. As
19:31
Speaker 1: a show obviously welcomes more as it a week's progressed,
19:35
Speaker 1: and then there's probably about crew members. So that's a
19:38
Speaker 1: lot of interviews to get through in a few days.
19:41
Speaker 1: And then by Sunday the cast had their phones back,
19:45
Speaker 1: as you guys know, there's no social media devices allowed,
19:48
Speaker 1: and that's when they were flying home, and most of
19:51
Speaker 1: them were back on Monday, including the ones who were
19:55
Speaker 1: allegedly involved. So Jackie, can you confer um that just
20:01
Speaker 1: from what I'm hearing here that after the events took place,
20:06
Speaker 1: that then every cast member and and also um producers,
20:12
Speaker 1: camp whoever on the on the show were then interviewed
20:14
Speaker 1: internally or was this just a cast member just normal,
20:18
Speaker 1: you know, in the moment interviews talking about what their
20:20
Speaker 1: experience was during that day. From what we know at
20:24
Speaker 1: that point, the show was shut down, so it wasn't,
20:27
Speaker 1: you know, a typical interview. It was more so they're
20:30
Speaker 1: interviewing everyone for the internal investigation. And this may be
20:35
Speaker 1: very random, but in my own little paradise head, I'm
20:38
Speaker 1: wondering where the cast members still communicating and talking while
20:42
Speaker 1: in the hotel. That is a good question. I mean,
20:48
Speaker 1: we know that they were sequestered, but I'm not sure
20:51
Speaker 1: if they were sequestered in groups or if they were sequestered.
20:55
Speaker 1: Onom on um to go back then to kind of
21:00
Speaker 1: your original statement, and Um, I first want to thank
21:04
Speaker 1: you for for not jumping to conclusions are making assumptions
21:08
Speaker 1: during this whole story, because as we talked about before
21:12
Speaker 1: we we gave you a call, was you know, the
21:15
Speaker 1: accusations are at least the rumors of accusations, which we
21:19
Speaker 1: now have confirmed through you that there is actually no
21:22
Speaker 1: um suit filed. Correct. Correct, So the accusations are, the
21:28
Speaker 1: rumors that are being made are are terrible and if
21:32
Speaker 1: they're true, then this is incredibly unfortunate for a ton
21:37
Speaker 1: of people, And so we I appreciate that you're taking
21:41
Speaker 1: your time to process through this and not making any
21:43
Speaker 1: assumptions either way good or bad. Um. And so please,
21:47
Speaker 1: if you if you've done it so far, and I
21:49
Speaker 1: know you'll, you'll continue. If there isn't an answer, don't
21:51
Speaker 1: feel like you have to give it to us. We're
21:52
Speaker 1: just trying to dissect exactly what we know at this point. Yeah,
21:56
Speaker 1: I think, and it's hard to have patients in this situation.
22:01
Speaker 1: People want answers, but as you to your point, it's
22:05
Speaker 1: very damaging to jump to those answers for many people.
22:08
Speaker 1: And so, um, there there's a storyline that I recently
22:13
Speaker 1: just found out, UM that I didn't know initially. There
22:16
Speaker 1: is a producer involved, and this is possibly where at least,
22:21
Speaker 1: as you said, the complaints stem from, which then escalated
22:25
Speaker 1: into the pausing of production. Um. So this producer you're saying,
22:32
Speaker 1: they made a formal complaint because they were involved in
22:37
Speaker 1: the situation. They're they're around the situation during this whole
22:41
Speaker 1: experience between the cast members. So we do know that
22:45
Speaker 1: there was footage of this incident in question. But what
22:48
Speaker 1: I can't say, I guess what I can say, it's
22:51
Speaker 1: unclear at the moment, what exactly the producer saw, um,
22:55
Speaker 1: Because the producer saw the incident, if they saw the footage,
22:59
Speaker 1: that not entirely clear. Um. The only thing that would
23:03
Speaker 1: really be accurate to say is that this producer was
23:06
Speaker 1: on location and filed a complaint about misconduct on set.
23:13
Speaker 1: Is it true she didn't shove to work the next day?
23:17
Speaker 1: I've heard that floating around. I have not been able
23:20
Speaker 1: to confirm that. And so do we have any information
23:24
Speaker 1: into the complaint that was made to dissect misconduct at all?
23:31
Speaker 1: I mean, the official statement from Warner Brothers is allegations
23:34
Speaker 1: of misconduct on set, So that's really all that we
23:37
Speaker 1: have to go on by now, since we haven't seen
23:40
Speaker 1: the actual complaints. UM. And that's really kind of the
23:46
Speaker 1: big question that is out there right now, and I
23:48
Speaker 1: assume that's why it's taking some time to get to
23:52
Speaker 1: the bottom of it. Definitely, do you have any insight
23:55
Speaker 1: into how these investigations worked. I mean, I know that's
23:57
Speaker 1: probably not the most exciting topic to talk about, but
24:00
Speaker 1: I think for the interest of our listeners, and then
24:02
Speaker 1: also as you spoke of the time frame to when
24:04
Speaker 1: we'll get information um from the situation, is how do
24:09
Speaker 1: these investation investigations usually UM go down. Yeah. I mean, well,
24:16
Speaker 1: in this case, they were on location, so it would
24:19
Speaker 1: be whoever's conducting the investigation from Warner Brothers would fly out,
24:24
Speaker 1: so that might have taken a little bit of a
24:26
Speaker 1: delay as opposed to if you're filming locally in l
24:29
Speaker 1: A or something like that. Um, And at that point
24:34
Speaker 1: they take over from there, and it really can take
24:37
Speaker 1: at least one to two weeks to get through everything.
24:41
Speaker 1: I mean at this point there, they're going to interview
24:43
Speaker 1: the cast and the crew basically anyone who was there
24:46
Speaker 1: to get all the perspectives. They're going to look at
24:48
Speaker 1: the footage. And it's definitely a case by case situation.
24:52
Speaker 1: I mean this, this has never happened before on this franchise.
24:56
Speaker 1: In fifteen years. Production has never been shut down aside
25:00
Speaker 1: from you know, whether or something that was out of
25:03
Speaker 1: their council. So it's definitely there's no rule there's not
25:09
Speaker 1: a rule book that I could cite on this, but
25:11
Speaker 1: these types of investigations will at least take one to
25:14
Speaker 1: two weeks. So it's certainly raises a question about even
25:19
Speaker 1: if this were settled and and all the parties were happy,
25:22
Speaker 1: schedule wise. You know, it seems unlikely that this season
25:27
Speaker 1: could be pulled off in time for an August eighth
25:30
Speaker 1: air date. It's the late a few weeks. That's yeah,
25:34
Speaker 1: that's I mean, that's kind of what was gonna be.
25:35
Speaker 1: My next question is, UM, what kind of impact do
25:38
Speaker 1: you foresee or have you heard UM that will occur
25:41
Speaker 1: now to the franchise or the show specifically. And I
25:45
Speaker 1: think that's the big question. I think that it was
25:49
Speaker 1: lucky that the bachelorrette was dark on Monday to help
25:52
Speaker 1: create some distance from this UM and unfortunately, I think
25:57
Speaker 1: there is a close tie. Even though the shows are separate,
26:00
Speaker 1: and even though The bachelorat has already wrapped, um, it's
26:06
Speaker 1: airing as this is going on, and as you know,
26:08
Speaker 1: it's a cross over audience. So I think that that
26:11
Speaker 1: is definitely something that the show is going to have
26:14
Speaker 1: to figure out. UM. As you guys know, there's still
26:17
Speaker 1: opportunity for The Bachelor to address this. They'll have the
26:20
Speaker 1: live after the final rows and the mentel all. So
26:26
Speaker 1: it then becomes an option if this is something that
26:31
Speaker 1: they're going to address or if they want to keep
26:33
Speaker 1: this separate. Yeah, you know, you said it best and
26:38
Speaker 1: I think this is something for all of us as
26:41
Speaker 1: you know, m viewers of the show to to UM,
26:45
Speaker 1: we can assume this. You know, the Bachelor, Bachelor has
26:47
Speaker 1: been around for fifteen years. It is a well oiled machine. UM.
26:51
Speaker 1: The format of the show really hasn't changed every year
26:54
Speaker 1: and every season. UM, production you know clicks along, right.
26:57
Speaker 1: They they typically handle situations because they can they can
27:02
Speaker 1: foresee them coming. Uh. You know that's including whether or
27:06
Speaker 1: issues with travel or maybe you know, issues within the
27:10
Speaker 1: show internally. This is something that's new and in some
27:14
Speaker 1: insight that that I have that Ashley has because because
27:17
Speaker 1: I know she talks the same people. Is that when
27:20
Speaker 1: this went down, when when production was paused, people, UM
27:25
Speaker 1: that the the production of the show, UM kind of
27:30
Speaker 1: was in freak out mode. Nobody knew what to do
27:32
Speaker 1: or handle handle this. And I think as we continue
27:35
Speaker 1: to get more information, UM, it'll be interesting to see
27:39
Speaker 1: how the franchise handles this because either way, you know,
27:43
Speaker 1: however this plays out and and and I want to
27:46
Speaker 1: hear your opinion on this. However this plays out from
27:48
Speaker 1: this point forward, if the worst accusation they're being made
27:52
Speaker 1: are true, or if maybe all of the rumors being
27:56
Speaker 1: spread aren't true. This will have a ripple effect on
28:00
Speaker 1: the franchise. We might not foresee it in the near future,
28:04
Speaker 1: but the show um will be affected. And just from
28:08
Speaker 1: your point of view and the people you've talked to
28:11
Speaker 1: um long term, what do you think the impact of
28:14
Speaker 1: this will be. Well, we do know that the incident.
28:19
Speaker 1: The incident is said to be a sexual encounter between
28:22
Speaker 1: two cast neighbors cast members who are intoxicated, so that's
28:27
Speaker 1: not a stranger to seeing that on the series. So
28:30
Speaker 1: I think moving forward, even when The Bachelor returns, if
28:34
Speaker 1: you see two contestants who are intoxicated who are hooking up,
28:38
Speaker 1: it might wait differently on the viewer given what they
28:43
Speaker 1: know about what happened. And I think back to your point,
28:46
Speaker 1: what's really unfortunate and also what Chris suggested is not
28:51
Speaker 1: everything out there is true, of course, um, but but
28:54
Speaker 1: these Bachelor Nation fans are going to seek out this information.
28:59
Speaker 1: They want answers, so they're reading it. So it is
29:02
Speaker 1: unfortunate that you know, basically every blog out there is
29:06
Speaker 1: citing unverified sources, and there is that question of no
29:10
Speaker 1: matter what's true, and no matter what the investigation determined,
29:14
Speaker 1: is the damage ality done because this information is out there. Um.
29:19
Speaker 1: But on the flip side, there's the question of the
29:21
Speaker 1: memory that this audience has, and I mean, this franchise
29:24
Speaker 1: has certainly seen controversy controversy before, not to make light
29:28
Speaker 1: of this one, but you know, it's a matter of
29:31
Speaker 1: will this carry over to when the other seasons are
29:34
Speaker 1: airing or is it a short term memory? And people
29:38
Speaker 1: are you know, willing to give the new season a
29:41
Speaker 1: chance and keep it behind them, which is interesting. I
29:45
Speaker 1: think unfortunately for The Bachelorette, there's there is not that distance.
29:49
Speaker 1: So that's an interesting to see how this play out,
29:52
Speaker 1: especially if this is an ongoing investigation for maybe three
29:56
Speaker 1: episodes of The bachelrett It'll be interesting to see how
30:00
Speaker 1: the fans react to that. But you know, I do
30:03
Speaker 1: think that there's no way that this franchise is emerging completely,
30:08
Speaker 1: you know, untarnished by this. Yeah, you're I mean, I
30:12
Speaker 1: think you're right, and and it just shows the weight
30:17
Speaker 1: and I believe the power to what we say and
30:20
Speaker 1: when we say it um as people um our opinions
30:24
Speaker 1: do matter, and when somebody has felt wronged, it is
30:27
Speaker 1: careful to um when when you when you communicate like
30:32
Speaker 1: a situation like this, you have to be careful and
30:35
Speaker 1: patient and make sure that you have all of the
30:37
Speaker 1: facts in place. And and I'm not That's why I
30:39
Speaker 1: said earlier before we called you. And I don't know
30:41
Speaker 1: what to say about this. I have zero I honestly
30:43
Speaker 1: have zero opinion either way. UM. All I know is
30:47
Speaker 1: that the accusatization, the accusations I've heard are incredibly powerful
30:52
Speaker 1: and some that should be taken very seriously, um, and
30:56
Speaker 1: and some that should be investigated and and made sure
31:00
Speaker 1: that we know everything to happen. But I hope, I
31:03
Speaker 1: hope that the truth prevails in this and that, however
31:07
Speaker 1: this gets spit out worst case scenario, best case scenario
31:11
Speaker 1: for the franchise and worst case scenario, best case scenarior
31:13
Speaker 1: for the people involved, that the truth prevails and that
31:17
Speaker 1: we can hold that opinion. UM. And in light of
31:21
Speaker 1: watching this show from here on out, I agree, Yeah,
31:26
Speaker 1: I agree. I think the most important thing is this
31:28
Speaker 1: investigation and letting them do their jobs as tortress as
31:33
Speaker 1: that might be for viewers who want answers, I mean, unfortunately,
31:36
Speaker 1: we may never get the full answers of what actually happened. UM.
31:41
Speaker 1: And that is something viewers will just have to deal
31:44
Speaker 1: with when there's something a little bit larger at play. UM.
31:49
Speaker 1: One last question, it's it's one that I just heard
31:52
Speaker 1: you spoke speak of at the very end. Do we
31:54
Speaker 1: have and I don't know long term how much UM
31:59
Speaker 1: this add uh to this story, UM, but I need
32:02
Speaker 1: to ask it. Do we know do we have confirmed
32:05
Speaker 1: accounts that substance substances outside of just your normal drinking
32:12
Speaker 1: water were involved in this? Meaning alcohol, alcohol, UM, any anything.
32:20
Speaker 1: I guess I think it's pretty safe to say alcohol
32:25
Speaker 1: was involved at this point. Okay, UM, I will we'll
32:32
Speaker 1: take that for what is Jackie, thank you again for
32:35
Speaker 1: coming on with us. We uh, we will be following
32:38
Speaker 1: you UM as this investation continues, UM, and please uh
32:44
Speaker 1: continue to tell us the truth. UM. I know you
32:48
Speaker 1: will collect the facts and we will trust you, UM
32:51
Speaker 1: for everything that you report on from here now. Well, yes,
32:56
Speaker 1: thank you for having me on. It's great to speak
32:59
Speaker 1: with you guys. Hold fully, you know, under better circumstances
33:02
Speaker 1: next time. But thanks for having me on. All right,
33:06
Speaker 1: Jackie Strouth from The Hollywood Reporter. We appreciate it, and
33:09
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining the Ben and Ashley
33:11
Speaker 1: almost famous podcast on a high radio Guys. I feel
33:15
Speaker 1: like a lot of fans are probably going to listen
33:16
Speaker 1: to that interview and they're probably gonna think, oh, wow,
33:19
Speaker 1: well I kind of already knew that stuff. That's pretty vague.
33:21
Speaker 1: But like the truth is the information, the hardcore facts
33:24
Speaker 1: we have right now, they are vague and they are basic. Yeah,
33:27
Speaker 1: I mean that's it. I mean we're you know, we
33:30
Speaker 1: we literally threw together a UM podcast in a day.
33:35
Speaker 1: It really mean a couple of hours even based on
33:38
Speaker 1: facts that are based on vague facts. We just don't
33:42
Speaker 1: know anything, and and we want to tell all the
33:44
Speaker 1: viewers out there what's happening because this is a very
33:47
Speaker 1: serious situation. You know, we we don't want to make
33:49
Speaker 1: d of this. It's it's kind of hard to hold
33:51
Speaker 1: a bachelor or bachelor at podcast UM when this is this,
33:56
Speaker 1: this situation exists because it's this feels heavy, if it
34:01
Speaker 1: feels cloudy. You know, a show that we watched to
34:04
Speaker 1: to laugh at people, to laugh with people, to fall
34:07
Speaker 1: find to watch people fall in love now feels like, um,
34:12
Speaker 1: I guess at least personally, like I want to make
34:14
Speaker 1: sure that all these this investigation gets cleared up before
34:17
Speaker 1: I can become really a fan again. And that's too
34:19
Speaker 1: bad if you know, it's it's just it's clouds um,
34:22
Speaker 1: a situation that we just don't know a lot about.
34:24
Speaker 1: I completely agree. My sister asked before, she was like,
34:27
Speaker 1: do you want to watch episodes so whatever of the
34:29
Speaker 1: Bachelorette later? And I'm like, wait, what Bachelorrette? Right now?
34:33
Speaker 1: I can't even think about the bat Slorette. Um. Yeah,
34:36
Speaker 1: I feel like you just can't really think about what's
34:39
Speaker 1: going on in the franchise until this is all cleared up, definitely,
34:43
Speaker 1: And you know I do. I want to again give
34:45
Speaker 1: Jackie Strousson, the Hollywood reporter, some credit here. She didn't say,
34:49
Speaker 1: she didn't say anything to make a story. You know,
34:50
Speaker 1: she really didn't say a lot. But I felt like
34:52
Speaker 1: she said exactly what she knows and and I think
34:55
Speaker 1: we should probably have her back on as this continues
34:57
Speaker 1: to play out, because she does on like somebody at
35:00
Speaker 1: least from talking to her today, that we can trust,
35:03
Speaker 1: because she's not out here to make some claim that's
35:05
Speaker 1: going to get her a headline. Um, and I guess
35:08
Speaker 1: more followers on Twitter. What she did was just explain,
35:11
Speaker 1: this is what I know. This is what we have confirmed.
35:13
Speaker 1: Everything else at this point is here say exactly, We're
35:17
Speaker 1: not here to make drama. We're not here to make
35:19
Speaker 1: more drama. So actually have a couple of questions. You
35:23
Speaker 1: do you have more questions? Okay? Um, I asked Jackie
35:28
Speaker 1: the same thing, and I want to hear your opinion.
35:29
Speaker 1: You know, we the Bachelor and Bachelor will be affected
35:34
Speaker 1: by this situation. Now, however this plays out. We know
35:36
Speaker 1: that now right this this is clouded, this situation, and UM,
35:41
Speaker 1: that's that's just the truth and how we work as
35:45
Speaker 1: a society. What is your opinion of how this will
35:47
Speaker 1: affect the Bachelor and Bachelor long term? Given that, um,
35:52
Speaker 1: this investigation is not completed yet. Well, let's see. I
35:58
Speaker 1: feel like I don't know if if we talk about
36:01
Speaker 1: ratings here, we're talking about the quality of like just
36:04
Speaker 1: the quality of people, the quality of the production, both
36:07
Speaker 1: what I mean honestly, what I'm I'm just wondering actually,
36:10
Speaker 1: like what like is it going to affect the ratings,
36:12
Speaker 1: which means it affects how many people are tuning in? Um,
36:15
Speaker 1: this is it going to affect how it's produced and
36:18
Speaker 1: the quality of production? Is it gonna I guess, you know,
36:21
Speaker 1: is it going to affect Another question to kind of
36:24
Speaker 1: make this a little more detail, Is it gonna affect
36:26
Speaker 1: how much we see in each relationship? Are we going
36:29
Speaker 1: to not see the physical aspects of somebody's relationship on
36:32
Speaker 1: the show now because of a situation like this. I
36:34
Speaker 1: think there's a couple of things that will be changed. One,
36:37
Speaker 1: I don't think the ratings are going to be affected
36:39
Speaker 1: by this. If anything, this is such a huge story
36:43
Speaker 1: that people who are in Bachelor fans are hearing so
36:45
Speaker 1: much about The Bachelor and they may get, you know,
36:48
Speaker 1: curious about what this whole thing is about, So they're
36:50
Speaker 1: probably going to end up watching it and maybe even
36:53
Speaker 1: getting a bigger audience from this. I think that as
36:56
Speaker 1: far as production goes, drinking is probably going to be
36:59
Speaker 1: more controlled. They're probably gonna have a closer eye, and
37:01
Speaker 1: they're probably gonna cut people off and they feel like
37:03
Speaker 1: it's time to be cut off. Um. Beyond that. Beyond that,
37:10
Speaker 1: I also think that there's probably gonna be like younger kids,
37:13
Speaker 1: parents of younger kids, you know, in their early teens
37:16
Speaker 1: their teens, they're probably gonna be a little more careful
37:19
Speaker 1: about what they're watching on TV and whether this is
37:22
Speaker 1: a show that they should be watching in general. Yeah, Um,
37:26
Speaker 1: I do think that people will be paying more attention
37:31
Speaker 1: now to what's shown on this show that this this
37:35
Speaker 1: uh is maybe you know, like I said, a lot
37:38
Speaker 1: of these people that work on the show, I feel
37:40
Speaker 1: like our family to me. They've they've been supportive of
37:42
Speaker 1: me always. Uh. They were supportive of me through my
37:46
Speaker 1: situation the Bachelrette, to me being the Bachelor, um post Bachelor,
37:50
Speaker 1: and then in my relationship, and then post my relationship,
37:53
Speaker 1: they have been nothing um. From executive producers to um
37:58
Speaker 1: founders of the show, to Chris Harrison, who I consider
38:02
Speaker 1: a friend of mine too, you know, smaller producers on
38:07
Speaker 1: the show and are those the camera and audio like.
38:09
Speaker 1: Those people have entered into my life in a way
38:12
Speaker 1: that I will always be grateful for. And the part
38:16
Speaker 1: that that I guess coming out of this that worries me,
38:22
Speaker 1: um is that these people, the people that we don't
38:25
Speaker 1: see at the time, might be affected the most. I
38:27
Speaker 1: also want to clarify and say that never in my
38:31
Speaker 1: three seasons did I ever see anything happen that should
38:34
Speaker 1: have been stopped that I thought was morally wrong. M Well,
38:39
Speaker 1: you know, The truth is is that we don't know
38:41
Speaker 1: a lot um. Ashley and I are coming to all
38:45
Speaker 1: of you today to just kind of talk through this
38:47
Speaker 1: with you. I mean, honestly, I don't even know how
38:49
Speaker 1: this podcast will will sound. It's not it was thrown
38:54
Speaker 1: together to Actually, I just wanted to get together talk
38:56
Speaker 1: through this with you because we felt like, if we're
38:57
Speaker 1: gonna do a Bachelor Bachelotte lifestyle pot cast, this is
39:00
Speaker 1: obviously important. We can't ignore the situation that is existing.
39:04
Speaker 1: And as we mentioned before, I want to be clear,
39:06
Speaker 1: Ashley and I have zero opinions or comments really on
39:09
Speaker 1: the matter. We just have emotion around the matter. We
39:13
Speaker 1: have feelings associated with the show, associated with the people involved,
39:17
Speaker 1: associated um with the people that work on the show.
39:20
Speaker 1: We just have emotion. And so we sit here today
39:23
Speaker 1: as fans, as as participants, participants in this franchise, very
39:27
Speaker 1: similar to how all the viewers out there, participants in
39:30
Speaker 1: this franchise saying, Hey, we're gonna be patient, we're gonna
39:34
Speaker 1: take our time, we're gonna listen to the facts come
39:36
Speaker 1: through because we don't know what happened and we would
39:39
Speaker 1: hate to jump to any conclusions, and we encourage we
39:42
Speaker 1: encourage anybody out there to to hesitate to jump to
39:44
Speaker 1: any conclusions. And if the worst case scenario is the truth,
39:51
Speaker 1: then we will respond to that accordingly. If the worst
39:56
Speaker 1: case scenario is not to truth, then we will respond
39:59
Speaker 1: to that accordingly. But until we know that, we cannot
40:03
Speaker 1: form an opinion. All we can ask is that in
40:07
Speaker 1: a situation like this, that affects so many people, and
40:10
Speaker 1: I don't want to undermine that that this affects so
40:13
Speaker 1: many people, most importantly the people that are actually involved
40:17
Speaker 1: in this event, This will affect them. No matter what,
40:21
Speaker 1: we ask that the truth prevails. And so with that,
40:26
Speaker 1: thank you for listening. This has been been And this
40:29
Speaker 1: is Ashley and Ben Higgins, her president, on the Almost
40:33
Speaker 1: Famous podcast with I Heart Radio. I want to give
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