Bachelor Investigation Comes to an End: Questions Remain
Reality TV has always thrived on drama, but it’s not supposed to happen like this. According to recent reports, “Bachelor in Paradise” will finally resume shooting after a ten-day stoppage to investigate “allegations of misconduct” among some cast members.
Misconduct? Yes. Sure, that might sound like the standard of behavior on “reality” TV programs, but not this kind of misconduct. At least one member of the production team accused two others – Corinne Olympios and DeMario Jackson – of what everyone is now calling “misconduct.”
Translation: Jackson and Olympios “allegedly” engaged in relations in a pool during filming of the program, leading a producer to file the complaint.
Once the complaint became public, several versions of the event came out as well. Even as Olympios said she had little recollection of the incident, she also blamed the network for not stopping whatever actually happened that night in the pool. After she hired celebrity attorney Marty Singer, several stories filtered out onto social media, causing people to start pointing fingers. Then the rumors really started flying. Jackson may have even lost his job over the allegations.
As the situation became even more confused and the stories started weaving in and around each other, everyone involved lawyered up, leading the network to suspend shooting until everything was, at least a little bit more, figured out. Part of that process was an internal investigation performed by Warner Bros., which produces Bachelor in Paradise. The company hired an outside law firm to look into the incident. Turns out, nothing happened that, in their estimation, supported a misconduct charge.
In a statement released by Warner Bros., the company said they didn’t plan to release any details, but didn’t find any reason to pursue the investigation further:
“Out of respect for the privacy interests of those involved, we do not intend to release the videotape of the incident. We can say, however, that the tape does not support any charge of misconduct by a cast member. Nor does the tape show, contrary to many press reports, that the safety of any cast member was ever in jeopardy…”
But that was just the beginning of addressing all the hoopla. Too much had already been written and said. Too many opinions had been formed by the public. Couldn’t put that cat back in the bag so quickly or easily. Realizing this, they defaulted to the oldest of entertainment truths: the show must go on … and so it has. Leaving fans to decide if something “really” happened or if it was just a case of drama overload.
