ABC Dodges Question About ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Incident at TCA

It’s been almost two months since Bachelor in Paradise shut down filming due to sexual misconduct allegations, and now ABC is trying to avoid questions about it.

During a Q&A this weekend, ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey, dodged a question about what really happened on the set of the show, according to The Wrap.

At one point, someone inquired about the playful nature of the show’s new promo, and how it starkly contrasts with the alleged on-set situation.

Dungey responded, “We were never looking for a way to ‘sensationalize’ it. The ‘Bachelor‘ Nation is very engaged, so there’s nothing that happens in the universe that they are not completely up to speed with.”

She continued, “The promo in question did not refer to the alleged incident at all. It actually was comprised of a bunch of tweets from Bachelor Nation, who were expressing their disappointment that there wouldn’t be a season, and then the joy that there would be.”

Lastly, she said, “We thought that it was cheeky and funny and sort of in-line with the show. However, the response told us otherwise, and then we pulled it.”

In the days after it was first announced that Bachelor in Paradise had shut down production, we learned that the alleged “misconduct” was between contestants DeMario Jackson and Corrine Olympios. Reportedly, the two were drinking heavily, and things started to heat up when they got into a jacuzzi.

Jackson has been accused of making sexual advances on Olympios while she was extremely inebriated and potentially unable to consent to what was happening.

He staunchly refuted the allegations and had even called for footage of the encounter to be released, as he believed it will vindicate him.

Sources close to the cast of Bachelor in Paradise said a female cast member walked by Olympios and Jackson when they were hooking up in the pool.

They also said that Olympios yelled out the anonymous cast member’s name and appeared to be “very with it.” They suggest she was coherent during the whole incident.

Additionally, the cast member is rumored to have told people that she would have broken up the situation if she thought Olympios was too inebriated.

She also says cameras were following her as she walked by, which means the entire thing should have been caught on tape.

In response, Marty Singer, Olympios’ attorney, stated, “If nothing inappropriate happened, why did production get shut down? Something serious clearly happened.”