Former Bachelorette Charity Lawson can attest to the “different” treatment Black women often experience in the reality TV world versus their white counterparts.
Lawson, 29, who first made a name for herself when she became a fan favorite on season 27 of “The Bachelor” and again when she starred in her own season of “The Bachelorette,” is a history-making seasoned veteran. She wrapped her season engaged to Dotun Olubeko, the franchise’s first-ever Black couple.
Given her experience with Bachelor Nation, as the franchise’s massive and highly active fanbase is called, Lawson thought she was more than ready to take on “Dancing With the Stars.” However, she said the experience was “much worse.”
As a guest on the podcast “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans,” Lawson said she was speaking out for the first time about how online trolls bullied her to the point of needing an on-set therapist.
“While ‘Dancing with the Stars’ was great, I literally went through hell and back with my mental health on that show,” she told host and former “DWTS” star Cheryl Burke.
She explained, “I was getting death threats for existing…for not performing enough, for being conceited, for being entitled. It was so damaging, night in, night out.”
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Lawson, who also works as a family therapist, believes she was perceived as conceited and entitled partly because of how Black women often experience bias when emoting. She also blames the editing packages from the producers.
“It’s shaped this way that I was boasting and bragging about my scores but I’m only talking about them because you guys asked me,” Lawson said. “That was really frustrating when I started to see my packages painted in this way. It’s almost skewing the viewers in this way of, ‘All she cares about are scores’ (and) ‘She thinks she’s better than everyone.’”
When Burke asked how she ultimately got by and managed to come in fourth place, Lawson said she eventually stopped scrolling, muted the necessary accounts, and limited her own posts around the show. Lawson also described making some attempts to discuss the issue with executives but was vague in explaining their response.
Burke expressed shock in hearing Lawson’s experience but also noted that she herself always thought the show should have some sort of “dance doctor.”
“Is it shocking? I don’t know if it’s shocking,” Lawson said on the podcast. “I think, to a certain degree, it was expected.”
