Rachel Lindsay Opens up About Conversation With Hannah Brown After N-Word Incident

Rachel Lindsay is sharing the details of her conversation with fellow Bachelorette alum Hannah Brown after the former beauty queen sparked controversy saying the N-word on Instagram Live earlier this month. While Brown appears to be staying away from social media after issuing an apology statement on her Story, Lindsay said she was disappointed in her response during a conversation with Nick Viall on the Viall Files podcast.

Explaining that Brown had asked her advice as to what to do after saying the N-word during a clip of her singing DaBaby’s “Rockstar,” Lindsay categorized the Dancing With the Stars winner as “very remorseful,” “very upset” and “embarrassed.” As Bachelor Nation’s only black lead and a vocal critic of Brown’s usage of the word, Lindsay said she had agreed to go live on Instagram with Brown as part of her apology, but nothing came of it.

“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,” Lindsay revealed. “Then, we would talk on the phone. And then, hours later, nothing again until it was ultimately decided she wanted to do a statement.”

Ultimately, Brown released a statement on her Instagram Story: “I owe you all a major apology. 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.”

Lindsay told Viall, however, that Brown previously said she wanted to speak on camera instead of giving a statement, quoting the Alabama native as saying “A statement would be insincere. …It felt icky” to give a statement. “And I believed her when she said it,” the attorney continued, saying it was Brown’s team who wanted her to issue the statement, despite Brown telling her “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, then 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,” Brown concluded. “So why did you, therefore, decide to do an insincere action? I’m very confused by that.”

Lindsay previously explained the hurtful and racist history of the N-word on Instagram, asking non-black people defending saying it under any circumstance to “do yourself a favor and educate yourself on that word.” She explained, “That word was used to make black people feel less than … and every time you use that word and you’re not black, you give that word power.”