The Bachelor and Its Showrunners Are Splitting Up

Seems like everything’s not coming up roses behind the scenes. The Bachelor showrunners Claire Freeland and Bennett Graebner are leaving the dating franchise, according to Deadline. While they’re still working on Grant Ellis’s currently-airing season, the pair are reportedly now negotiating their exits. This news comes after Deadline published a February 21 report in which current and former Bachelor crew members accused Freeland and Graebner of running a “toxic” and “hostile” workplace. The showrunners denied the allegations; their lawyer, Michael Weinsten, said in a statement that his clients were “frankly stunned and saddened by some of the things they are hearing now for the first time.”

Freeland and Graebner began helming the franchise — which is set to skip a season of The Bachelorette this summer — in 2023, when Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss departed following an investigation into allegations of racial discrimination. (Freeland is also married to former Bachelor co-executive producer Michael Margolis, who joined co-EP Keely Booth in resigning following Deadline’s February report.) Vulture has reached out to ABC and producer Warner Bros TV for comment on Freeland and Graebner’s exits. What do we think — is this split is happening on amicable enough terms for the studio to drop that classic Bachelor line, “Can I walk you out?”

• [Deadline]
• [Deadline]

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