Wednesday afternoon update: I meant to update and include the Instagram numbers list. I copied and pasted the list from my post about episode 3, then added today's numbers. So you're seeing the progression from May 30 to June 6 to today.
Bryan 11,500 --> 23,700 --> 45,800
Peter 35,700 --> 62,400 --> 97,100
Eric 6,438 --> 7,792 --> 13,600
Jonathan 761 --> 927 -> 1,252
Kenny 8,147 --> 10,000 --> 13,600
Dean 18,400 --> 40,300 --> 105,000
Josiah 5,433 --> 7,442 --> 10,900
Blake E 6,551 --> 6816 --> 7,125
Lucas/Whaboom 12,100 --> 13,200 --> 14,700
Who's the biggest winner this week? Dean, AKA @deanie_babies, by a mile, with Peter in second place. Amazing what a good one-on-one date will do. How many followers does Rachel have? 610,000.
Original post:
The Bachelor In Paradise scandal is over and it turns out there wasn't much there there. This press release from Warner Brothers makes it sound like the whole thing was much ado about nothing which makes me wonder how it became such a big deal in the first place. Did the decision-makers overreact when they closed up shop and sent everyone home? Shutting down production of a network show is a big, big deal, with a lot of money at stake, presumably not a decision to be made lightly or on a whim. On the other hand, on a show with so much drinking and hooking up, which translates to many opportunities for crossing the line, erring on the side of caution was probably the right call. (Not everyone agrees. Apparently some observers think the whole thing was a publicity stunt.)
Anyway, as of yesterday the investigation is compete, there was no finding of misconduct and the show will go on. Good news for all, high fives and hugging all around, right? Well, no, at least not for the self-proclaimed "victim." One might have thought Corinne would be relieved and happy to learn that nothing bad had happened to her, but no, she's still the victim and her attorney issued a statement saying this isn't over:
“It needs to be made
crystal clear that production of Bachelor in Paradise was shut
down because of multiple complaints received from BIP producers
and crew members on the set,” he said in a statement. “It was not shut down due
to any complaint filed by Corinne against anyone. It comes as no surprise that
Warner Bros., as a result of its own internal investigation, would state that
no wrong doing had occurred. Our own investigation will continue based on
multiple new witnesses coming forward revealing what they saw and heard.”
Are there really any "new" witnesses that weren't included in the Warner Brothers investigation? It's hard to think so. Although BIP films at a resort as opposed to a brick-and-mortar studio, it's still a set, where the number of people on-set at any given time is presumably tightly controlled. And there is security. As we saw when DeMario returned to the mansion in Episode 2 of The Bach'ette, Paulie and his crew keep a close watch on the proceedings, not just to ensure everyone's safety, but also to ensure that someone with a cell phone camera doesn't sneak onto the set then send spoiler videos out into the world. It should have been very easy for investigators to make a complete list of everyone who could have seen or heard anything; it's hard to believe someone slipped through the cracks and is now speaking only to Corinne's lawyer.
The Warner Brothers statement makes a point of mentioning that an outside law firm was involved, but Corinne's lawyer's statement implies that the studio whitewashed the outcome. Here's what ABC's Legal Editor Dan Abrams said about that on Good Morning, America this morning:
"You've got to believe after they've [Warner Brothers] seen the tape and they have certainly gone through the tape with a fine-tooth comb, for them to come out and publicly say 'We don't believe there's any misconduct and the show's going to go on,' if they've seen that tape, they've reviewed that tape and what they're saying isn't true, and someone sues them later and that comes out, that would be devastating for them... I guarantee you lawyers went through... that public statement."
I'm wondering what Corinne's end goal here is. Continuing to insist she's the victim of a sexual assault, and having previously stated that she was so drunk she can't remember what happened, is just not a good look for her or her brand. It's been clear from her first appearance on Nick's season that her goal is to get famous and make money. It was also clear that she drinks too much and aggressively uses her sexuality in pursuit of her goals. (Remember the "Platinum Vagine?") She sells stuff on Instagram (780,000 followers,) she has a "Team Corn" line of clothing and she's been quoted as saying that she wants to be The Bachelorette or have her own show. Does "I was too drunk to know better" really help her get there? My advice for Corinne? Go. To. Rehab.
A few more thoughts from around Bachelor Nation:
The show will go on. As the scandal played out it appeared as though BIP was dead in the water, not just for this summer but for good. The brand was just too tarnished. Nope. They're getting the band back together and the show will air in August, although possibly not on the originally planned dates. Us magazine online says DeMario has been invited back, no word on Corinne, but my guess would be no.
photo credit: Paul Hebert/ABC
The wedding went on, too. Carly and Evan's wedding happened as planned on Saturday, with several familiar Bachelor Nation faces in attendance:
The
couple was joined by numerous fellow Bachelor Nation alums,
including Jade Roper (bridesmaid) and Tanner Tolbert, Wells Adams
(groomsman), Whitney Bischoff and her fiancé Ricky Angel, Kaitlyn
Bristowe and Shawn Booth, Nick Viall and Vanessa
Grimaldi, sisters Emily and Haley Ferguson, Ashley Iaconetti, and
Jared Haibon. (Read the article here.) I assume the wedding will be part of what we see when Bachelor In Paradise finally airs this summer.
There are now seven couples who met on one of the Bachelor franchise shows and eventually got married. Can you name them? (Trista & Ryan, Desiree & Chris, Ashley & JP, Sean & Catherine, Jason & Molly, Jade & Tanner, and now Carly & Evan.) In spite of the chaos surrounding BIP, and the general weirdness of the show overall, two out of the seven married couples met and got engaged on BIP. And at least so far, when Bach Nation couples get married they stay married. Not a bad track record.
Finally, yes, there was a new episode of The Bachelorette on Monday, and yes, I was watching, more or less, but I don't have a lot to say about it. Clearly Lee is the new villain, deservedly so, and just as he did with Whaboom, ABC exec Robert Mills reassures Bachelor Nation that Lee's days on the show are numbered:
Did Millsy say "2 part event?" Yes he did. Next week ABC is putting two episodes of The Bach'ette out into the universe, Monday and Tuesday nights. After that there's another two-week gap, with the show taking July 3 off to celebrate the 4th of July. Will there be another juicy Bach scandal to help us pass the time while the show is missing? Probably (and hopefully) not. Meet me back here, whenever, Rosebuds, same Bach time, same Bach channel.
