LOS ANGELES — "The Bachelor" creator Mike Fleiss, who announced earlier this week that he was leaving the hit ABC reality franchise, is pushing back against a report that he was being investigated for racial discrimination on the dating show at the time he stepped down.
"Since its premiere 21 years ago, times have certainly changed and I'd have to say we didn't keep up with the pace of those changes," Fleiss said in a statement. "I am proud of the work we've done over the past five years to make the show substantially more diverse, but I do believe I could have done more. Hopefully, the franchise will continue to move in the right direction."
ABC and Warner Bros. Television declined to comment.
