'Bachelor' race discrimination lawsuit filed

ABC and the producers of "The Bachelor" engaged in "purposeful discrimination" that has resulted in no black, Asian-American or Latino star in 23 editions of that show and "The Bachelorette," lawyers for two rejected applicants said Wednesday as they filed a class-action suit in a federal court in Nashville, Tenn.

In a news conference at the office of one of their attorneys, Nathaniel Claybrooks and Christopher Johnson, who are black, said they were given short shrift by "Bachelor" casting staff at an open call at a Nashville hotel last year. Claybrooks said he went as directed to the hotel's second level, where "I noticed that the white males in front of me, they took maybe 45 minutes to an hour" being interviewed. "It took me maybe 15 to 20 minutes. They kind of rushed me through."

Johnson said, "Unlike brother Claybrooks, I didn't have the opportunity to make it to that second level" after a man asked what he was doing there, took his materials but never made further contact. "His whole process lasted only about a minute," said Byron Perkins, one of the attorneys.

Perkins said the lawsuit would continue even if African-American sportscaster Lamar Hurd's effort to be the next "Bachelor" is successful. He said the suit involved the larger issue of "a completely exclusionary process."

Warner Horizon Television, producers for the show, said in a statement Wednesday night: "This complaint is baseless and without merit. . . . The producers have been consistently -- and publicly -- vocal about seeking diverse candidates for both programs. . . . We continue to seek out participants of color for both 'The Bachelor' and 'The Bachelorette.' "