Rachel Lindsay is speaking out after controversial tweets from another Bachelor Nation member surfaced.
Over the weekend, Taylor Nolan apologized for several "hurtful" comments she made on Twitter between 2011 and 2012.. In her posts, the former Bachelor in Paradise star insulted various minority groups in the United States. Other tweets fat-shamed people or contained homophobic slurs.
While appearing on the March 2 episode of her Higher Learning podcast, Rachel reacted to the viral messages.
"I think people are very upset and shocked and disappointed. I'll throw myself in there," she told co-host Van Lathan. "She's been very vocal and very definitive in what she believes and then to see something that is so opposite of that—it's shocking. At first, I was like, ‘Is this real?'"
Rachel and Taylor appeared on the same season of The Bachelor with Nick Viall in 2017. While the pair wasn't close during filming, Rachel shared she had since "become cool with her" in the last year. Regardless of their bond, however, the podcast host explained that she holds everyone to the same standard.
"I have the same energy with Taylor that I have with anybody who does something that's wrong," Rachel explained. "I said the same thing with Chris Harrison even though that message seems to be getting lost. I said the same thing with Rachael [Kirkconnell]. You're never going to hear me say, ‘Cancel this person. This person is done.' What you'll hear my say is, 'We have to hold this person accountable.'"
Rachel continued, "So I have that same thing with Taylor. What she did was wrong. It was terrible. It was shocking. It was disgusting and she should be held accountable for that. But I think the problem is that the people who went digging for that were out to crucify her."
On Monday, March 1, Taylor took to social media and apologized to her followers for the way she handled the situation.
"There is no question or defending that every word of my old tweets are harmful, wrong, triggering, and incredibly upsetting to the communities that I identify with and that I support," the 27-year-old psychotherapist wrote. "I'm so sorry to the folks that were triggered and re-traumatized by seeing the hurtful words from my past."
As for Rachel, she believes many people are angry with what they read making it difficult for Taylor's apologizes to be fully heard. At the same time, the 35-year-old lawyer believes there are signs Taylor has grown.
"You can be appalled at what she did and hold her accountable for that and also recognize that she's not the same person that she was before and I think what she was saying is that she didn't wait for somebody to call her out before she started doing the work," Rachel explained. "She recognized it was wrong."
Outside of Taylor's controversy, some listeners tuned in to the latest podcast episode hoping to find out what happened to Rachel's Instagram. As it turns out, the former Bachelorette confirmed she disabled her profile on Friday, Feb. 26.
"I woke up, looked at my phone and I saw something negative and I said, ‘Not today. Not even this weekend and currently not now,'" she recalled. "It was the best decision I could do for myself to detach from that negativity. I needed that. I feel so much better. I'm not 100 percent, but I feel lighter."
On March 1, The Bachelor's executive producers condemned any and all online harassment directed at Rachel. As the statement read, "We would like to make it perfectly clear that any harassment directed towards Rachel Lindsay in the aftermath of her interview with Chris Harrison is completely inexcusable. Rachel has received an unimaginable amount of hate and has been subjected to severe online bullying, which, more often than not, has been rooted in racism. That is totally unacceptable."
The unnamed executive producers added, "Rachel has been an incredible advocate for our cast, and we are grateful that she has worked tirelessly toward racial equity and inclusion."