Quite the craziness over the past few days, huh? It’s been pretty overwhelming to say the least. I had to take a mini break for a little bit there because there’s just been a lot to digest. A lot of time on the phone, a lot of reading, and a lot of introspection in terms of where I want things to go and where I want my voice to be in it. Ashley Spivey and I have been doing IG lives since around May of last year weekly (minus the month or so we took off in December). I think I can safely say that the IG Live we do tonight at 8ET/5PT will be one of the more important ones we’ve done. And you know what? Some of you are going to hate it. Some of you are going to roll your eyes. And I’m guessing some of you are going to unfollow me. If that’s the case, so be it. So many assumptions have been made about me and my intentions since last Thursday’s podcast where I asked if you’d be interested in hearing from a family member of Rachael’s on the podcast. Without even knowing anything other than that sentence, the amount of people who can immediately know everything and predict the future was pretty mind blowing. I wish you could people could help me with the lottery. Well actually no, because those responses couldn’t have been more wrong. This will all be talked about tonight on the live. I hope you take the time to join us and if not, barring any technical glitches on IG, it’ll be saved on my IGTV forever. Hope to see you there because we have tons to go over and a lot of people out there really need to actually listen to things that maybe you don’t want to.
I want to go over the timeline since Thursday’s podcast because so much has happened since then. I also want to address just the nonsense that is being spewed. So Thursday, I asked on my podcast, on my IG story, and on Twitter if you’d be interested in hearing from a member of Rachael’s family on the podcast. All I wanted was to see the response. On Twitter you can see the poll was at 60/40 saying “yes.” IG responses was probably closer to 70/30 saying “yes.” However, the people who said no and gave a reason why, were all roughly 1 of 2 things:
“We don’t need you giving racists a platform” or “We don’t need to hear from them because all they’ll do is make excuses for her.”
Everyone who said that was totally out of line. You didn’t even know who I was talking to, what they were saying to me, or what they were going to come on and say. It’s infuriating that everyone seems to know everything that someone’s gonna do before they do it, even though you didn’t even know who the person was.
Here’s the situation. I did plan on having a family member on. The reason why was because by talking to them, I was told Rachael has been wanting to make a statement for a while, but the show was telling her not to. Then later on Thursday, a picture of Rachael at an Old South formal in college was posted, the internet blew up, and behind the scenes the people I were talking to decided it’s best they didn’t come on. The firestorm was getting too big. However, at no point if that podcast were to have taken place, was that family member going to come on and give ANY excuses for the stuff that’s come about online regarding Rachael. “Indefensible” was a word they used a lot. “Mortified” was another. I’ve been in touch with the family members all weekend. Literally all day every day. I expect that a statement from Rachael will be coming today. And in that statement, I fully expect her to take ownership for everything that’s been posted directly about her. She’s not going to make excuses, and she’s not going to try and explain herself either. She knows some of the things she’s done are wrong and are racist.
Now, will an apology ease everyone’s mind? Of course not. Nor should it. There’s A LOT of work that needs to be done post apology. This is just the beginning. Nothing Rachael says in a statement will change anyone’s mind who already thinks she’s a white supremacist and/or racist. This is no different than Hannah Brown’s situation this summer – except we don’t have to wait two weeks to hear from her for the first time. She’ll make a statement hopefully today, a lot of people will side eye it, a lot of people will say she’s only apologizing because she got caught, and plenty won’t even blink an eye at it. That’s what she will be dealing with for a while I assume, and from what family members have told me, she understands that. Ashley and I will dive much deeper into this tonight on our live, but rest assured, A LOT will be covered.
What I want to say is this after going over so many things this weekend being attributed to Rachael and/or family members by random Tik Tok’ers. Not everything you see in a Tik Tok has been vetted out and accurate. In fact, there are quite a few that flat out aren’t true. Problem is, that cat’s out of the bag. You know how many people have sent me feministmama’s and Maddy’s Tik Tok’s since the beginning of the season? And all of them came with a message where the person sending it didn’t even question anything they were looking at. I’m telling you, some of that stuff is flat out inaccurate reporting, and exaggerations to fit their narrative. Rachael absolutely has some racist stuff out there. That is not in question. But not EVERYTHING in those videos is accurate like so many people are just automatically believing as Ashley and I have spent the weekend proving some of the things aren’t. So please, do not feed into that. We are not going to focus on that too much, because we don’t want to make it seem like we’re making excuses for Rachael. At no point tonight will we make excuses for her. But we just wanted to point out that not everything in those Tik Tok videos that so many have taken as 100% accurate is actually factually correct. Again, we’ll discuss all this tonight at 8ET/5PT on my live.
I can’t reiterate this enough. Some of you, judging by your responses to the tweet of Rachael being at an Old South formal as being “just a dress” and “they’re just having fun,” are probably not gonna like tonight’s live. Hell, you might even leave. We wish you’d stay and actually listen as to why you making those statements are just as racist as what that dance stood for itself. It’s going to be uncomfortable, it’s going to be stuff a lot of you either don’t want to hear or have never heard of or thought about before. We want to start a discussion into things. I’ve been pretty silent on stuff like this over the years. I can’t be any longer and I realize that now. The hours I’ve spent talking to Taylor Nolan and Ashley this weekend, the hours I’ve spent reading up on stuff I’ve never read before, the time I’ve spent listening to videos and podcasts – yeah, it’s been a lot. And some of you are probably thinking it’s performative because, well, you have to shit on everything I do. God forbid I just try and learn. And that’s fine. I don’t need people like you to believe me or my intentions. All we ask if you keep an open mind, actually think outside your own little bubble about the grand scope of things, and join us tonight for what we hope will be a positive, but more importantly, informative discussion. See you tonight.
sumguy
February 9, 2021 at 8:10 AM
Oh Steve. The 40-something year old who is single, is the king of deciphering “good look” actions of former contestants.
Also, it honestly seems like you’re jealous of Matt and Ty’s relationship. You bring up their friendship at least once a week. Like dude, you realize that guys can be close and have great friendships, right? Or have you never been close to a guy before? Then The fact that you feel the need to mask-shame people is honestly pathetic. Think you need to take a deep look at yourself and fix your insane double standards, dude.
I honestly enjoy most of the content you post, but sometimes you come off pretty crazy.
SeaDub
February 9, 2021 at 8:44 AM
Steve comes off as being crazy?!?
RS – Awesome for diving deeper, and calling out those that are selfish and / or entitled and / or ignorant enough to not feel as if they should wear a mask. And for being over 40 and for being single.
progressive4ever
February 9, 2021 at 9:19 AM
EVERYONE should be mask-shamed. You demonstrate you’re core selfishness by refusing a simple act that benefits your family, friends, neighbors. Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and I’m sure this isn’t the only area where you’re passive aggressive. I’m not on social media so I won’t be watching the Insta. I’ve read a lot about the history of racism in this country, listened to various podcasts. I have no problem with people who don’t understand the overt and nuanced aspects of it. What I do have a problem with is people who simply don’t care. “I don’t do X,Y,Z so why should I?” Thank you, Steve, for taking action to educate yourself. That’s what grown-ups do.
dbla31
February 9, 2021 at 9:29 AM
SeaDub and progressive, Amen to both your comments. It’s because of those like SumGuy that we will be dealing with distancing for a long time to come…
ladyjane747
February 9, 2021 at 9:39 AM
Uh oh, the go woke/go broke crowd has finally brainwashed Steve. What usually results from that is a loss of humor (which I think we’ve already witnessed with these blogs) and a loss of revenue. Who are you and Ashley to judge what is and isn’t racist and to explain it to all of us who come here for a little mindless entertainment? Last time I checked, you were both white. The Antebellum South existed, and it’s fair game for a time period for dressing up -it’s called “make believe.” There was a lot more to it than slavery. I don’t listen to the IG Live things anyway, and haven’t listened to a podcast in several months. And I always get the sense that people who mask-shame are jealous of those of us who try to live our lives as freely as possible and aren’t hampered by fear and terror. Must suck for you, but look at the statistics. If you’re not over 75 with a lot of other health problems, you have nothing to worry about it even if you get COVID. The “cure” has become a lot more dangerous than the virus – Depression, suicides, drug addictions/overdoses, alcoholism, obesity, joblessness. Those are real things happening to a lot more people than are dying from a virus. People do die from viruses all the time. My mom died from the flu – because she had Parkinson’s Disease. It happens ALL. THE. TIME. There were actually fewer deaths overall in 2020 than there were in 2019, 2018, 2017. COVID is not killing people at alarming rates, at all. Keep yourselves healthy, take vitamin C and D and zinc and stop eating high fat foods at Olive Garden. You’ll be just fine.
rob22
February 9, 2021 at 10:52 AM
@ladyjane. How do vulnerable people over age 75 get the virus? Most that age are being very careful. And they’re appalled that others are not. Because they mainly get infected by younger, non vulnerable people, especially those not taking precautions. In fact, if everyone was taking it very seriously & following precautions, including masks, we’d have a lot less spread of the virus. And who would that benefit most? Older people with pre-existing conditions. If we were talking about base jumping, for example. And you decided that you wanted to base jump. I’d think it was an unnecessary risk. But, you’d only be risking yourself. So, that’s a decision that should be left up to you. With a virus, if you become infected, you could infect grandma, grandpa, your neighbor, the cashier at your store, etc. etc. That’s why people care about mask wearing. It effects everyone. I really hope your comments are not suggesting that 450K people haven’t died of COVID in this country. I have had one friend die, and two others on ventilators that really thought they were going to die. Neither was over 60 & only great medical care saved them. My friend who died was 72. An extremely healthy 72. I was shocked actually that he was that old. He worked out, ate extremely healthy, had no pre-existing conditions, but he didn’t make it. I hope it doesn’t take a family member dying for everyone to get how serious this is. And that’s why RS is right to comment on Matt. Yes, Matt is unlikely to die if he contracts it, though for whatever reason, African Americans are more likely to die or become seriously ill. It’s much more about who they come into contact with.
crushonspivey
February 9, 2021 at 12:14 PM
All I know is that you can quickly determine if a personal is conservative, moderate, liberal or progressive by asking them about COVID. The stronger the response, highly likely they are progressive. The more of a shoulder shrug, highly like more conservative. I am more moderate. I got it, had a rough go, but ended up fine. I think people need to be more reasoned in their responses, more factual. But we basically are in an emotion driven era were facts aren’t really needed to make a point anymore. In fact, even science is shunned if an emotional point is being made. It is troubling, and both ends do it, just over different things.
https://www.brookings.edu/research/how-misinformation-is-distorting-covid-policies-and-behaviors/
As to Katie as Bachette. Seriously? Count me out. I didn’t watch Hannah B, and I won’t watch Katie. But if TPTB want to bring in some less attractive, chubbier guys to open up the demo, go for it. She’s the girl to get us more Bob Guiney type guys, ad fewer 6-packs. That’s her speed.
ladyjane747
February 9, 2021 at 12:15 PM
robb22, if you keep streaming this out, someone who’s in poor health due to smoking, alcohol, drug use and obesity is more likely to get sick with viruses like COVID. If they took care of their health, they wouldn’t contract the virus and possibly spread it to me. Does that mean I have the right to tell you to stop eating fatty foods because you’re impacting my health? No. Your health is not my business, and my health is not yours. Viruses have been with us forever, and the way we LIVE WITH THEM is to get sick, build up immunities, get sick again, and so on. Eventually, when we’re old and ill, one of these viruses might get to us at a vulnerable time and we die. That’s life. If masks worked so well, why does California, which is mask heaven (and I know this because I live here) have so many more cases than FL, which does not have mask mandates? Masks don’t work. My own doctor told me this when this craziness started. People who wear masks and take precautions still get the virus. Masks are not magic – and they’re filthy and cause other health issues. Again, look at the statistics. Even people over 75 have a miniscule chance of dying from COVID, even if they get it. This is mass hysteria, nothing more, fueled by an irresponsible media. Look at the people telling you all to mask up – so many of them have been caught without masks. Now, do you really believe they think masks are going to protect them? If so, why aren’t they wearing them? It’s about controlling you. Wake up. This is the first time in history HEALTHY people have been quarantined.
SeaDub
February 9, 2021 at 12:25 PM
Oh look…we have a doctor amongst us. I’m sure as hec going to listen to what Lady Jane has to say about viruses as opposed to doctors and scientists. Especially when almost a half a million people in the US have died from this virus and she writes IN ALL CAPS.
As for “get woke/get broke”….in other words “stay racist, sexist and hateful / stay rich”…yeah…that’s about right.
sumguy
February 9, 2021 at 2:38 PM
Lol you all are assuming I don’t wear a mask. Do all of you who are for “mask shaming” wear a mask 100% of the time? You realize that when your with your friends and family without a mask, that’s when/how the virus is spreading. If you’re not always wearing a mask, then you need to be mask shamed as well. I’m guessing that you aren’t. Shame on you!!
Again…pathetic
SeaDub
February 9, 2021 at 3:41 PM
oh loook…craycray is back.
I’ve been vaccinated – front line healthcare working with covid so I may know a thing or two about this and definitely more than you and “lady” jane – and I still wear a mask when inside and outside unless alone, as they don’t know yet if once vaccinated if you can carry the virus.
“Calling” out a blogger and responders out, anonymously, in the comment section of that blogger’s site…and you think others are pathetic? You’re fun.
sumguy
February 9, 2021 at 4:07 PM
The lack of self awareness that seadub has is honestly hilarious. Way to pay yourself on the back for thinking you’re smart, but it appears that you didn’t even read my last comment, as I addressed the importance of wearing a mask. Bless your heart.
SeaDub
February 9, 2021 at 4:44 PM
It’s not difficult to be considered smart in your presence…so no pats necessary.
screenname
February 10, 2021 at 12:22 AM
We barely even know Katie and they chose to make her Bachelorette?! I hate the fact that they chose her weeks out from the final 4 because our final 4 (excluding Rachel who wins) are all beautiful women of color who should have all been in the running for Bachelorette! And most any other season they would have chosen from the final 4 or 5 (our 5th place being a deaf woman). They did this because heaven forbid they have another POC or a deaf person as the lead. The moral licensing of this franchise is real. It’s ridiculous.
justsaying
February 10, 2021 at 3:31 PM
What is so hard about putting on a mask even if you believe it doesn’t work??
Do you run around naked during the summer since clothes aren’t needed?? Should ice cream be banned during the winters since it just doesn’t work in keeping you warm??
tvau83
February 16, 2021 at 6:15 AM
So glad I only come here for the spoilers instead of your constant political stances on everything. Smh. The constant police brutality, racism, mask wearing bs which half of the scientists and drs in the world say do not help anything among other crap is exhausting. If you think masks work explain why NY and CA had such high cases and deaths. Oh yea because they don’t work. They make people “feel better”. (Coming from several internal medicine drs and pulmonologist who have treated covid patients not just drs who run their mouth on tv yet do not actually treat patients (aka Fauci). Better go buy a pair of goggles too. Also, Rachael isn’t racist. She grew up in the south where a lot of cultural things still go on that aren’t rooted in racism. Chances are most of those people who were there had a different idea as to what that party represented. I would bet there were people there of other races also including African American. I am sure that party to them was not in any way celebrating slavery. You all are too much.
tvau83
February 16, 2021 at 6:16 AM
Lmfao everyone should be mask shamed? Wow why am I not shocked a liberal believes in bullying smh.
tvau83
February 16, 2021 at 6:17 AM
It’s sad isn’t it ladyjane? He’s been on this band wagon for a bit though if you check his cute little ticker at the bottom of the page