Pets are safe
Lady Gaga’s dogs, stolen by thieves, were recovered safely.
Rachel Lindsay has disabled her Instagram account after being harassed by fans of “The Bachelor” franchise.
Lindsay, who made history as the first Black lead of “The Bachelorette” in 2017, recently found herself at the center of a controversy surrounding the cast of the current season of the ABC reality dating show.
Now, many in Bachelor Nation, a term used to describe the community of fans of the show, are attacking the 35-year-old TV personality, who also co-hosts the “Higher Learning” podcast.
On Friday, Lindsay’s podcast co-host Van Lathan confirmed on Instagram that she had disabled her account.
“She did it because that’s how much hate she’s getting from “Bachelor” fans, who are spamming her with all kinds of rude, hateful things to say,” Lathan said in a short video, adding that people should “get a f—ing life.”
“Rachel is not responsible for the show’s host Chris Harrison, a 49year-old man who can’t read the room in these present 2021 times,” he said. “She’s not responsible for that. It’s not her job to make excuses or provide cover for somebody who doesn’t understand what the f— triggers people in today’s world.”
It all started earlier this month, when “The Bachelor” contestant Rachael Kirkconnell was criticized on social media for recently unearthed photos that showed her dressed in Native American attire.
She has since apologized for her actions. However, when Harrison — who has been the host of the show and its spinoffs since 2002 — was asked by Lindsay about the incident during an “Extra” interview earlier this month, he defended Kirkconnell against what he referred to as “woke police” on social media.
His comments were met with furious backlash, prompting the host to issue two apologies. He also announced he’d be “stepping aside for a period of time.”
While the 49-year-old host admitted that his “ignorance did damage to my friends, colleagues and strangers alike” — and more than 42,000 people have signed an online petition urging producers to fire him from the franchise — many in Bachelor Nation have also mobilized in his defense.
A competing petition to “Keep Chris Harrison!” has gathered nearly 14,000 signatures as of Saturday afternoon.
Earlier this week, Matt James, the star of the current series of “The Bachelor,” opened up about the controversy.
“Chris’s failure to receive and understand the emotional labor that my friend Rachel Lindsay was taking on by graciously and patiently explaining the racist history of the Antebellum South, a painful history that every American should understand intimately, was troubling and painful to watch,” he wrote on Instagram on Tuesday.
Now, some fans of the show are blaming Lindsay for Harrison’s troubles, according to Lathan.
—Tribune News Service
Lady Gaga’s stolen dogs safely recovered
Lady Gaga’s two French bulldogs, which were stolen by thieves who shot and wounded their walker, were recovered unharmed Friday, Los Angeles police said.
A woman brought the dogs to the LAPD’S Olympic Community Police Station, just northwest of downtown, around 6 p.m, said Capt. Jonathan Tippet, commanding officer of the department’s elite Robbery-homicide Division.
Lady Gaga’s representative and detectives went to the station and confirmed that they were the dogs, Tippet said.
The singer is currently in Rome to film a movie.
The woman who dropped off the dogs appears to be “uninvolved and unassociated“with Wednesday night’s attack, Tippet said.
In a tweet Friday night, the LAPD said the woman had found the dogs “and reached out to Lady Gaga’s staff to return them.“
Her identity and the location where the dogs were found won’t be disclosed for her safety and because of the ongoing investigation, the LAPD said.
The dog walker, Ryan Fischer, was shot once as he walked three of the singer’s dogs in Hollywood. Video showed a white sedan pulling up and two men jumping out. They struggled with the dog walker before one pulled a gun and fired a single shot before fleeing with two of the dogs. The third escaped and has since been reunited with Lady Gaga’s representatives.
The dog walker can be heard on the video saying he had been shot in the chest. He is expected to survive his injuries, Tippet said.
“I continue to love you Ryan Fischer, you risked your life to fight for our family. You’re forever a hero,” Lady Gaga said in an Instagram post.
Lady Gaga on Friday repeated her offer of a $500,000 reward for the return of her dogs — whose names are Koji and Gustav — with no questions asked.
Tippet said since police were not involved in the reward, he did not know if the woman would receive it.