Why The Bachelorette’s Rachel Lindsay Doesn’t Expect Hannah Brown to Change

After Hannah Brown came under fire for saying the N-word during an Instagram Live video, she apologized in a statement and promised to “do better.” However, Rachel Lindsay doesn’t expect Brown to change.

The Bachelorette‘s season 13 star explained why during Thursday’s episode of the Higher Learning With Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay podcast. 

Lindsay claimed Brown is “empowered by an audience” who supports her and said these fans can be “intense.” As a result, she said, “She’s going to go right back to doing what she was doing before.”

The reality TV celeb and attorney then noted she hasn’t spoken to Brown since their last discussion about an apology.

“She needs to refer to her team,” Lindsay said, “because that’s what she’s done from here on out.”

As Bachelor Nation will recall, Brown received backlash after she posted a video of herself singing the words to DaBaby‘s “Rockstar,” including the N-word. While Brown initially claimed she didn’t think she said the word, she later issued an apology.

“I owe you all a major apology,” she wrote in a statement shared to Instagram Stories. “There is no excuse and I will not justify what I said. I have read your messages and seen the hurt I have caused. I own it all. I am terribly sorry and know that whether in public or private this language is unacceptable. I promise to do better.” 

In a separate Instagram Live video, Lindsay claimed she reached out to Brown directly. She said she wanted to let the season 15 celeb know how she was feeling and challenge her to use her “platform to correct that mistake.”  

During an interview on The Viall Files, Lindsay claimed she had “multiple conversations” with Brown—including via phone calls, texts and direct messages—and said the Dancing With the Stars winner asked for her input.

“She was very remorseful. She was very upset. She was embarrassed. She was admitting she was wrong, and she said she wanted to go on a Live,” Lindsay told host and fellow Bachelor Nation member Nick Viall. “She was going to go first and then bring me on. Twice, she got off the phone with me to tell me, ‘OK, I’m going to go do it. I’m just going to go get ready.’ Hours later, nothing. Then, we would talk on the phone. And then, hours later, nothing again until it was ultimately decided she wanted to do a statement.”

She also explained why she was “disappointed” that Brown decided to apologize via a statement instead of via Instagram Live. 

“The reason it disappointed me so much that Hannah decided to give a statement is because—her words—’A statement would be insincere.’ Hannah said that. ‘It felt icky to give a statement,'” she continued. “And I believed her when she said it. And it was her team that was advising her to give a statement. And she said, in her heart, she didn’t feel it was that way, and she felt that God had wanted her to use her platform for a bigger purpose. And she was going to step up and do that. So, to see her ultimately text me and say, ‘I’m going to give a statement’ was extremely disappointing because, you yourself, said that that was insincere. So why did you therefore decide to do an insincere action? I’m very confused by that.”

After “that door was closed,” Lindsay decided to speak out.

“I can’t be the only black female lead and not discuss a white Bachelorette saying the N-word publicly to your 2.8 million followers,” Lindsay said during Thursday’s podcast episode. “I have to say something about that because it directly impacts me.”

Meanwhile, Brown has continued to stay silent on social media.

In addition to talking about Brown, Lindsay talked about how she’s been “very vocal about increasing diversity” within The Bachelor franchise. In fact, she said she “went off” after Mike Johnson wasn’t picked as the last lead. 

“Because I’m like, at this point, you have basically said exactly who you are by not picking him. You don’t want to,” she said. “Because at the end of the day, you have the power to do whatever it is you want. You can make an audience fall in love or hate somebody. I’ve seen it. It’s happened to me. And the fact that you are still—it’s been 24 seasons. And I said this, the last Bachelor was Peter [Weber], and I said, ‘We’ve had 24 Peters. We’ve had 24 of them. They all look alike. Put them in a picture. There’s no difference.’ At this point, it is on the franchise as to why we do not have a person of color that’s the lead. Can’t make excuses for it. Can’t try to look at it in any other way. Any way you slice it, the fact that we haven’t had a black male lead when we have had qualified people is on the franchise.”

To listen to the full podcast episode, head over to Higher Learning With Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay.