Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines for January 18
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Members of the Bachelor Nation are calling out James McCoy Taylor for attending the "Save America" rally that turned into a riot when protesters descended on the Capitol.
Taylor, an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump, appeared on JoJo Fletchers' 2016 season of "The Bachelorette" but has since riled up others from the hit ABC dating show. The crux of their criticism stems from a tweet shared by Taylor last week that implies ABC and the producers behind the reality show were fine with him attending the controversial event.
"Big thanks to #TheBachelor family for supporting me during this time... from top to bottom," he wrote. "Conservative producers are the best!! Thank you @ABCNetwork @ABC & @BachelorABC for having my back while I legally supported our President."
It’s unclear if McCoy was among the group that breached the security of the Capitol building on Jan. 6 while the Senate was meeting to certify the electoral college votes from the November election. However, he spent the days leading up to the Jan. 6 gathering in Washington, D.C., encouraging his followers to come "fight for a man who’s been fighting for you for 4 years."
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Representatives for "The Bachelorette" did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
However, Ben Higgins, who starred on "The Bachelor" in 2016, told Insider that Taylor is simply lying about the show and network being OK with his attendance.
"It was a dark day in American history and he was there for it and it's still being promoted through him. I can't say he and I have anything in common," he told the outlet. "However, he is representing 'The Bachelor' and I think he went as far as saying that 'The Bachelor' supported his efforts to do this – that is wrong! And he's lying."
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Recording artist and 'Bachelorette' star, James McCoy Taylor, is being called out by former contestants for attending the Jan. 6 protest at the U.S. Capitol. (Rick Diamond/ACMA2017/Getty Images for ACM)
"That didn't happen. Nobody supported him in that. He's lying and lying is not an OK thing to do. I don't know why he's doing it," Higgins added.
The outlet notes that, in addition to Higgins’ rebuke of Taylor’s tweet, series creator Mike Fleiss didn’t mince words when discussing Taylor’s attendance at what became a riot.
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"Whoever that former cast member/idiot j---off is that went to Trump’s treasonous rally, got a message for ya... You are officially exiled from #BachelorNation !!!" he wrote.
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Former "Bachelorette" star Rachel Lindsay, who has been outspoken about the show incorporating more diversity in its casting, responded to that tweet writing: "Reason #4853569536 we have to do better with casting."
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