One week after news broke that Colton Underwood, the former star of “The Bachelor,” was shooting a reality series for Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) on the new chapter of his life as an openly gay man, an effort is underway to force the streaming service to cancel the series.
What Happened: Underwood acknowledged he was gay in an April 14 interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Following the interview, Variety reported that Underwood was in production on an unscripted series, with openly gay skiing champion Gus Kenworthy serving as Underwood’s guide to his new public life.
However, Underwood’s return to the spotlight brought renewed attention to his complex relationship with Cassie Randolph, the woman he chose on his “Bachelor” season.
After the couple broke up in 2020, Randolph publicly claimed that Underwood stalked and harassed her by putting a tracking device on her car, sending hostile texts to her cell phone and showing up uninvited at her apartment and her parent’s home.
Randolph obtained and received a restraining order against Underwood and sought a police investigation against him. She later dismissed the restraining order and asked that the police cancel the investigation.
Underwood’s actions inspired a petition on Change.org asking Netflix to cancel his series.
“Cassie is a victim of Colton’s abuse, and he does not deserve a platform in any way,” the petition stated. “Regardless of his sexuality, Colton should not be given a platform as a result of his abusive, manipulative, and dangerous behavior.”
As of this writing, the petition has generated more than 25,000 signatures, bringing it close to its goal of 35,000.
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What Else Happened: Randolph has not weighed in on Underwood’s coming out or his new Netflix series and abstained from posting her weekly YouTube commentary in the aftermath of his “Good Morning America” interview.
“Thank you everyone for all the kind comments and messages,” she wrote on YouTube. “And yes, some of you are asking about my YouTube for this week. I decided to take the week off, but will have one again next week!!”
Someone who had no problems commenting on Underwood was John Casey, a columnist with The Advocate, an LGBTQ media outlet.
“What Underwood did with his coming out story, and the revelation about his sexuality, was contrived and motivated by money. Plain and simple,” Casey wrote.
Lance Bass, the openly gay singer, was more sympathetic to Underwood. In a podcast interview, Bass admitted Underwood is “definitely going to get a lot of backlash from the community at first — there is a small percentage of the community that’s just going to not like the fact he came out this way, that he’s monetizing the experience.”
But Bass also admitted that Underwood and his upcoming series could be helpful to those trying to come to terms with their sexuality.
“When someone comes out as a public figure, so many people immediately go to: ‘Screw that! It’s too late.’ They don’t like to support it because they don’t feel like you know what you’re talking about yet,” he added.
(Photo courtesy ABC.)
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