Chris Harrison Discusses Why The Bachelorette’s Lincoln Adim Wasn’t Mentioned on ‘Men Tell All’

Every reality show must decide how to incorporate new information into their series’ respective fantasies when the sad, terrible face of the real world peeks through. In a new interview with Glamour, host Chris Harrison discusses why The Bachelorette contestant Lincoln Adim wasn’t mentioned during tonight’s “The Men Tell All” episode. (Adim had previously been charged with indecent assault and battery stemming from a May 2016 incident, a fact that was not known prior to his casting.) To put it bluntly, Harrison said, no one wants that.

“First of all, Lincoln was not invited and not welcome here. What he did was illegal and against the law, so that is a very easy call,” Harrison told Glamour. “There was no chance he was coming here tonight, no chance I wanted to talk to him or hear his side, because there is no side. What he did was commit a crime. That’s a very easy answer. As far as dealing with it, we wanted [“Men Tell All”] to remain about Becca, about the guys, and about this journey. And going there … this wasn’t the time or place. There really isn’t much to explain about Lincoln other than he lied, he deceived, he committed a crime, he’s not here, and he’s removed from the show and the franchise.”

Adim was subsequently convicted of both charges on May 21, leaving Warner Bros. scrambling to explain how their background check had failed to pick up on his impending charges. “No one on The Bachelorette production had any knowledge about the incident or charges when Lincoln Adim was cast, and he himself denied ever having engaged in or having been charged with any sexual misconduct,” Warner Bros. said in a statement in June. “We employ a well-respected and highly experienced third party who has done thousands of background checks consistent with industry standards to do a nationwide background check in this case.”

When Glamour asked how Warner Bros. can guarantee a thorough background-check process in the future, Harrison admitted it must have been a “bizarre set of circumstances” that allowed Adim to make onto the show in the first place. “I’ll leave that to the lawyers and Warner Bros., but I will just say it’s very easy for people to go on social media and say it was very easy to discover,” Harrison said. “We also know what we’re looking for, and it’s not as simple as everybody thinks it is to find that. It was a bizarre set of circumstances that allowed that to happen, on top of someone [Adim] who decided to lie and deceive.”