ABCBachelor Nation is a no-hate zone, people.
This season of The Bachelorette has possibly been the show's most controversial one yet, with star Kaitlyn Bristowe at the eye of a social media hate-storm, coming under fire for some of the decisions she's made, including sleeping with Nick Viall pretty early on in the season.
"She's not the first to get hate tweets…she's definitely the first to get it at this level of anger and hate and death threats," host Chris Harrison said of the backlash Kaitlyn has received this season, leading him and the producers to dedicate an entire segment during the Men Tell All special to the "horrible" messages she's been receiving on social media.
While Harrison has alway loved the response and debate the franchise has inspired over the years over various social issues, he explained, "I'm fine with the reactions…what I'm not OK with is the hate.
"You can love it, you can disagree with it, you can be appalled by it, you can be grossed out by it....be all those things, but stop at hate," Harrison continued. "There is a fine line that is very clear to see where it stops being debate, stops being productive and just starts being hurtful, hateful and mean."
Slow clap for Harrison, please!
But does Harrison think the producers are at all responsible for some of the hate Kaitlyn has been receiving, seeing as how much of her hook-up with Nick they decided to show, or rather, play the audio from?
"I've pondered this too," Harrison said. "Should we as producers not show what actually happened…because we don't think that you can handle it or adult or big enough to handle it? The bottom line is Kaitlyn made decisions…I don't think it's up to producers to then go back and edit that to make everybody feel good about themselves and make this perfect Disney utopia. That's not the way the world works. That's not the way dating works. That's not the way Kaitlyn works."
Still, reading some of the awful messages Kaitlyn received during the Men Tell All special sitting in front of the Bachelorette herself was "difficult" for Harrison, who said, "I love Kaitlyn to death."
While it was "really difficult to decide" whether or not to actually pull real tweets Kaitlyn has received, Harrison explained he and the producers felt it "was important" to do, and cleared it with Kaitlyn prior.
"I said enough is enough. We talked to her and made sure use would be OK with it, but I thought t was important to go out and take segment and be serious and try to make a difference," Harrison explained. "Is everything going to change today? No…so if nothing else comes from this show, at least we started a discussion about something that is important to me, especially with two kids....if one person was affected than I think it was worth it."