Why the ‘Bachelorette’ season finale is facing backlash and the action fans are taking

In wake of an agonizing “Bachelorette” season finale, Bachelor Nation fans are signing a petition calling on ABC to apologize and fire producers of the series.
Emotions ran high during Tuesday night’s final episode of “Bachelorette” star Jenn Tran’s season. Audiences members were seen in tears as Tran emotionally described the collapse of her relationship with winner Devin Strader.
Tran detailed how following their engagement on the “Bachelorette,” Strader’s demeanor instantly changed. Last month, Strader broke off their engagement over a 15-minute phone call.
Then Tran was forced to watch video of the now broken engagement before a live audience while seated next to her former fiancé.
Fans were outraged.
“It’s not entertainment to watch someone in the midst of such insurmountable pain that they’re nearly gasping for air,” a fan posted on X. “It’s not cute or funny that at the very height of that pain you make them rewatch what they just described as the worst day of their life, in front of a live studio audience and next to the person responsible for that pain.”
Another wrote: “This is SO evil…cancel the whole franchise for putting her through this,” per X.
More than 1,400 fans signed a petition posted on Change.org urging ABC to issue an apology for the episode and fire the producers involved.
The petition, posted by Kayla Boyd on Change.org, calls out ABC for failing “to protect Jenn Tran.”
“What was allowed to be broadcasted last night was vile. To have Jenn watch the proposal next to Devin while live streaming her reaction is a level of cruelty I didn’t expect from a show that is supposed to be based around love,” writes Boyd.
The petition also points to the significance of Tran being the first leading Asian American woman featured on “The Bachelorette.” It claims that “it is a danger to women, especially women of color, to be put through such mental stress for the sake of ratings.”
The petition concludes with a proposal, “The producers of last night’s finale of The Bachelorette should be fired, effective immediately. … The producers should have protected Jenn instead of capitalizing off of her pain.”
“I demand an apology from ABC. Everyone involved should be ashamed.”
Season 21 of “The Bachelorette” concluded unusually. Rather than the typical live engagement clip and happy ending, the episode cut to Tran seated before a live audience with host Jesse Palmer.
“This is normally when you’d watch a romantic proposal … and instead, here I am,” Palmer said before a live audience. “Well that’s because you won’t be seeing that proposal … because of what transpired since that day in Hawaii, we decided it wouldn’t be appropriate for anyone to see it until we heard from Jenn.”
Tran fought back tears as she described how her relationship with Strader dramatically changed when the cameras were gone. “I felt like I was secondary to everything in his life,” she told the audience.
Then last month, Strader called Tran and broke off their engagement. He told her he “regretted” getting engaged, Tran said. “I don’t understand what happened. I don’t understand what changed.”
Tran revealed that she had not seen Strader since July, before he broke off the engagement. Strader was then brought on stage to have a conversation with Tran.
“Obviously I failed you. And there’s nothing else I can say other than that,” Strader told Tran. “But everything I felt for you was real.”
The former couple had a long spat before Palmer suggested they watch a clip of the engagement.
“Do I have a choice?” Tran asked before the clip started.
Seated next to Strader, Tran sobbed as she watched the engagement clip for the first time.
Tran concluded her appearance on the show by telling Strader, “I hope you learn that the weight of your words matters and if you promise something, you should be able to fulfill those promises. I simply couldn’t have done what you have done. … I hope that you find whatever it is, wherever it is in you self journey, I hope that you get there one day.”
After Tuesday nights episode, Tran said her “heart is heavy grieving but I have to make room for forgiveness,” in a lengthy Instagram post.
“I want to acknowledge the heartbreak felt from around the world as it’s such a universal experience. To all the lover girls and boys out there, our greatest gift in life is how big our hearts are. It is easier to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all,” her post continued.
“I am still healing. It’s been difficult processing the past few months and it will continue to be difficult for me to fully understand my own heart at this moment. However, what I do know is that I am worthy of an unconditional and unwavering love whenever that love may come.”
Immediately after filming the live portion of the final episode, Tran was told she was selected to compete on Season 33 of “Dancing With the Stars.”
“When I got offstage, I was crying and they were like, ‘You’re going on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and you’ve got to get on a plane in 45 minutes and you can’t pack anything. Make sure to have your ID.’ I was like, Is this real life? Is this really happening?” Tran told Glamour Magazine.
“I was just so excited and so happy. And it was nice to be able to have that happiness in a moment of me very clearly not being very happy, so I was very, very grateful for that.”
Tran’s dance partner on the competition series is Sasha Farber. She said she is “stoked” to be a part of the series.
“It’s a healing process but right now I’m just so excited for this new opportunity and kinda just being able to jump into something different and something that I’ve always been wanting to do,” Tran told People.
“I took one ballroom dancing class in college and we’re gonna see where it goes. I’ve always wanted to learn.”