“The Bachelorette” launched its 20th season Monday night, marking the first season to air without franchise creator Mike Fleiss on board — except Fleiss’ name still appeared when the credits rolled.
During the ending credits at the conclusion of the episode, the very last name to appear on-screen was Fleiss’ accompanied by the words “created by.”
Unlike past seasons, Fleiss was not credited as an “executive producer” and his production company, Next Entertainment, was not listed. In former seasons, Fleiss’ name appeared first on the credits, instead of last.
A source tells Variety that the “created by” credit is contractual because Fleiss is still the creator of “The Bachelor” franchise, regardless of his departure. (Across the industry, both in scripted and unscripted programming, it’s typical for creators to be listed on their projects, even if they no longer work on the show.)
Warner Bros. TV declined to comment.
Fleiss parted ways with his own franchise earlier this year. No reason was given for his exit at the time, but Variety reported that an HR investigation into allegations of racial discrimination and bullying behavior led to the creator’s departure. A handful of individuals familiar with the situation said that a number of employees had complained about Fleiss, which resulted in a thorough investigation conducted by an outside party, which discovered that staffers complained about Fleiss’ behavior and his resistance to increasing diversity on the franchise.
Though he is still credited as the franchise’s creator, Fleiss has zero involvement with any of shows, including this new season of “The Bachelorette,” Variety hears.
Variety previously reported that Fleiss would continue to be credited on the franchise as its creator. At the time of Variety‘s investigation into Fleiss’ exit this past March, the studio and a representative for Fleiss said they would not comment on whether he was still being compensated.
“The Bachelor” franchise consists of flagship show “The Bachelor,” “The Bachelorette,” “Bachelor In Paradise” and the hotly anticipated senior citizens spinoff, “The Golden Bachelor,” which debuts this fall. Past spinoffs have included “Bachelor Pad,” “The Bachelor Winter Games” and even a singing competition series. All in, Fleiss’ franchise has birthed a remarkable 60 seasons of television since debuting in 2002.
Beginning with tonight’s new season of “The Bachelorette,” the franchise is being led by showrunners Claire Freeland, Jason Ehrlich and Bennett Graebner, who collectively replaced Fleiss.
“The Bachelorette” Season 20 stars leading lady Charity Lawson, who becomes the fourth Black woman to lead the dating show.