The Bachelorette's Justin Glaze Responds After 'Hurtful' Social Media Posts Resurface
Bachelor Nation fans with an internet connection continue to prove they’re better at combing through contestants’ social media accounts than the casting producers, as a couple of frontrunners from Katie Thurston’s season of The Bachelorette have come under fire for past offensive tweets. One of those men, Justin Glaze, has now spoken out.
Justin Glaze went on the reality franchise’s official podcast, Bachelor Happy Hour, to apologize for his hurtful comments. Podcast hosts Becca Kufrin and Tayshia Adams, who is also serving as The Bachelorette co-host during Katie Thurston’s quest for love, welcomed the 27-year-old painter onto the show to give him a chance to speak on his past mistakes, namely insensitive comments about the LGBT community. Glaze apologized for the posts, saying when he was a teenager he felt the need to “keep up with what my peers were doing and saying," and noted:
Justin Glaze talked about the volunteer work he’s done with community organizations that provide services for the LGBT community, including diversity inclusion in the workplace. And, he said even though the tweets in question are over a decade old, Justin said his age or the amount of time that has passed doesn’t absolve him.
The Bachelor franchise has found itself in hot water regarding its contestants’ social media behavior numerous times in recent years. After James Taylor, a contestant on Jojo Fletcher’s season of The Bachelorette, attended the Capitol riot on January 6, he falsely claimed he had the support of ABC and the Bachelor family. Producer Mike Fleiss responded that the “idiot/jerkoff” was exiled from Bachelor Nation.
Matt James’ season of The Bachelor was mired in controversy after photos emerged of winner Rachael Kirkconnell at an Antebellum-themed sorority party, as well as other insensitive social media posts. The situation led to longtime host Chris Harrison’s firing after he clumsily defended Kirkconnell in an interview with Rachel Lindsay, the franchise’s first Black lead. James and Kirkconnell have reunited after breaking up in the aftermath of the controversy, while the Bachelor franchise has moved on from Harrison, recruiting multiple guest hosts to lead its shows.
Bachelor Happy Hour host Becca Kufrin herself dealt first-hand with similar controversy, after she got engaged to Garrett Yrigoyen on her season of The Bachelorette. During filming, Yrigoyen’s troublesome past came to light, revealing that he had repeatedly “liked” offensive social media posts. The couple worked through that situation, but broke up after Yrigoyen again came under fire for comments about protests following the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others.
As disheartening as it is to continue seeing this kind of behavior from contestants on the Bachelor shows, I hope Justin Glaze really has changed and continues “to put the work in,” as he said on the podcast, calling the situation a wake-up call. If you want to see how Katie Thurston’s journey to love turns out, you can catch The Bachelorette at 8 p.m. EST, Mondays on ABC. And, be sure to check out our 2021 Summer TV schedule so you don’t miss any of your favorite shows.
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Heidi Venable is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend, a mom of two and a hard-core '90s kid. She started freelancing for CinemaBlend in 2020 and officially came on board in 2021. Her job entails writing news stories and TV reactions from some of her favorite prime-time shows like Grey's Anatomy and The Bachelor. She graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a degree in Journalism and worked in the newspaper industry for almost two decades in multiple roles including Sports Editor, Page Designer and Online Editor. Unprovoked, will quote Friends in any situation. Thrives on New Orleans Saints football, The West Wing and taco trucks.