Look out, folks!
We've been alerted to some Bachelor-on-Bachelorette crime.
A few days after Hannah Brown stunned Bachelro Nation by uttering the N-Word on Instagram, Nick Viall has gone off on the polarizing recent lead.
And we mean... He. Went. OFF.
"Listen, Hannah Brown has a massive platform. She has been very outspoken about her desire to be a role model specifically to young women out there. She has talked about it a lot," Viall said today on his latest podcast.
"And quite frankly, her going on Instagram Live -- whether she was inebriated or not -- and using that word in any context whatsoever is not being a role model
"Certainly not a good one. And she has to be held to a high standard. We all do. And it is very disappointing to see. Honestly, her initial response was disappointing."
For those who missed it, Brown was rapping along to a song on social media Saturday night.
At one point, because it was included as a lyric, the ex-Bachelorette dropped the N-Word, at first denying that she had done so -- and then issuing a half-hearted apology on Instagram Live.
"Look, people are going to want to think whatever they want to think of me, get mad at me, whatever," she said.
"And even if I did accidentally say it, I’m very sorry, I was singing a song and not even thinking.
After garnering even more backlash for this lame mea culpa, Brown released a more heartfelt statement the next day.
"I owe you all a major apology," this one said. There is no excuse and I will not justify what I said. I have read your messages and seen the hurt I have caused. I own it all.
"I am terribly sorry and know that whether in public or private, this language is unacceptable.
"I promise to do better."
Just like other members of Bachelor Nation, Viall doesn't think Brown is racist.
But...
'She has since posted a written apology on her Instagram Stories that is set to expire," Viall explained, referencing Rachel Lindsay and continuing:
"As Rachel said on her Instagram Live, that doesn't read as sincere. We don't know whether that came from her heart or if it came from her publicist.
"The only authentic reaction right now, as it stands as this Monday morning, is what she just said on her Instagram Live.
"Frankly, that's a really, really terrible apology and really insincere and it comes across as, again, ignorant to what she's speaking on."
Lindsay, the first African-American Bachelorette, has said she reached out to Brown after the incident and wishes Hannah had done more to make up for her mistake.
“It’s easy to make a statement, it’s easy to hide behind words, but when you’re bold enough to say the N-word on camera, on your platform … then you need to be bold enough to use your face on camera and apologize in the same way that you said the word,” the season 13 Bachelorette continued.
“I’m not discrediting the apology I’m just saying we can’t give people a pass for this.
"You have to hold people accountable for what they’re doing."
Viall, meanwhile, claims many former series stars and suitors have had their "Hannah Brown story," alleging the Alabama native can often come across as off-putting.
"The reason you haven't heard that from Bachelor people, to be totally honest, is they're afraid of Hannah and her fans and, specifically, they are afraid of Hannah's willingness to steer her fans' energy in the direction of her critics," Viall said.
"If you're a fan of Hannah, you should not be defending this. If you are Hannah, you should go on your platform and you should tell your fans who are defending it to stop doing it.
"You have a responsibility and an opportunity to do that."
In the end?
Viall thinks Brown has "a lot of good in her" and hopes she turns this scandal into a lesson for her fans and followers.
"I hope she embraces that and not hopes the situation goes away," he said on his podcast. "I hope this can be a teachable moment for all of us and I hope she does that."
