‘The Bachelorette’ Season 13, Episode 10: The Men Demand An Apology From Lee

This week’s episode of The Bachelorette was the seasonal “Tell All” episode, which normally are a snooze-fest, but this season was a juicy exception.

THE BACHELORETTE RECAP: THE MEN TELL ALL

The segment began with host Chris Harrison telling a few uncomfortable jokes before the guys walk on stage – we have Jamey, Diggy, Blake, Iggy, Anthony, Lucas, Fred, DeMario, Alex, Jonathan, Lee, Jack, Josiah, Will, Matt, Kenny, Adam, and Dean. The men still up for the final rose this season are Bryan, Eric, and Peter, none of whom are here tonight.

We get started with Lucas, aka Whaboom, as Harrison is clearly trying to get that conversation out the way early. Next up is DeMario, who is still trying to get out of the whole Lexi fiasco he got himself into on the basketball date episode. His excuses run from the show claiming he’s “Beyoncé’s boyfriend,” to claiming that he just “texts everybody,” and that Lexi was his “side chick.” He says he needs “ocular evidence,” and I guess Harrison obliges by showing a clip of DeMario admitting he was dating Lexi. This is the kind of stuff that everyone expected to be on this Tell All.

Then we finally get to the exciting stuff – the guys go in on Lee.  He and Kenny had feuded on the show for their runs, and Kenny says that Lee broke the rules of the “gentleman’s game” they were all playing for Rachel’s affection. Dean (probably everyone’s favorite) chimes in to defend Kenny. He says he “might’ve been the most well-liked guy in the house… hard to say the same about Lee. I will forever have Kenny’s back in that situation.”

Kenny says his dislike of Lee is beyond racism. The issues from Lee felt more like a guy who was surrounded by better men and knew it, and knew he just didn’t belong. Ouch. Kenny then jumped in the hot seat, where Will explained that the other guys never saw Kenny as “aggressive,” just “frustrated.”

Finally, Lee speaks. He concedes that Kenny never pulled him out of the van and also admits that he should have taken the high road like Kenny had. “I should’ve been a better friend… for that, I apologize,” he says. But Kenny isn’t buying it, saying the apology is “admirable” but “bulls–t.” Since the taping, Kenny has seen all of Lee’s private interviews where he bragged about getting under people’s skin, but Kenny also says he isn’t holding a grudge.

Appropriately, next in the hot seat is Lee. He tries to explain all his actions but saying, “I’m facetious,” and says everything he said was a joke taken the wrong way, but the other guys are not having it. They say he has to take responsibility for what he’s said, especially in the racist and sexist tweets that were unearthed when he got on the show.

“I feel like I have a lot to learn in that area,” is his response, as well as admitting he “said things I should not have said.” Thank goodness the other guys aren’t letting him off the hook that easy. They ask why Lee even came on the show with an African-American bachelorette, and Lee can barely speak. “I don’t like racism at all. It bothers me morally,” he said disingenuously. “It bothers me inside. I don’t like it… I was being irresponsible in what I put out… There are things that I can learn. If I hurt anybody in any kind of way with a bad joke, I apologize.”

He definitely rehearsed these responses, and is terrified when the guys, and the host, want more. They want him to admit what he’s apologizing for, namely, being racist. Finally, he says, “I am grateful that I have people in my life now that make me not like I was when I made a racist comment. I completely denounce that and I denounce that Lee. I wanna learn.” And when Iggy specifically asks why Lee is sorry, he says, “I’m sorry for saying things when I was not educated and ignorant in those subjects… That tweet was racist and I denounce it.”

And now it’s finally time for Rachel. She comes out and rehashes things with Dean, saying again that she really was falling in love with him before she cut him from the show. And when confronted with the Lee situation, she just shows her disappointment in how he handled things. “You had such an amazing opportunity to be surrounded by different people and different cultures and you didn’t take advantage of that,” she said. “I hope that in watching it back, you realize that you were a part of something so great. But in case you didn’t, please know that you could exit stage left and meet me backstage and I’d be more than happy to give you a black history lesson, a lesson on women’s rights.”

Lee apologizes to Rachel and says today has made him realize how great this group of guys really is. But Rachel isn’t having it. She tells him that the guys have always been great. “I hope it expanded your horizon,” she says of his experience on the show.

This brings us to the end. A few of the guys try to get the last word, but Kenny has the winner: “If Bryan, Eric, or Peter don’t work out, you already know my number.”

Tune in next week for the season finale and to find out which man Rachel will choose.