Jonathon Johnson has reacted to Sam McKinney's statements on The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
"I didn't partake in any of the drama, really, throughout the season, and I wasn't going to start that night. It was a lot of grown men making a lot of loud noise that literally leads to nothing," Jonathon explained during a recent appearance on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast.
"I have zero energy to put in that direction. I want to talk about positive things... people's wins and victories!"
Jonathon pointed out how Sam had "a rough go at it" for "a couple of episodes" of Jenn's The Bachelorette season.
"I don't think he was really able to articulate what he was trying to say very well -- at all," Jonathon told the podcast's co-hosts, Bachelor in Paradise couple Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt.
"We all kind of saw him fumble his words at the radio show, and then when he came on The Men Tell All, he spoke very clear and very concise."
Jonathon shared how he'll "never fault a man for trying to be better," and he "could tell the genuineness" of what Sam was saying that night.
"He really wanted to do better. He really reflected on what it was that went wrong," Jonathon said.
"So he went out there, spoke his truth, spoke his feelings, and was actually able to articulate it this time. I was proud of the man he's trying to become, moving forward from what we saw!"
Jonathon therefore thought Sam's appearance at the reunion was "really good" for all involved.
Jenn, however, exploded on Sam at The Men Tell All, which aired last week on ABC, and she told Us Weekly that it "felt so good" to go off on him.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW"You're watching things back, you get a full picture... of how things played out. So it was nice to kind of just be able to really lay it all out there and say what I really was thinking of everything," Jenn said.
Jenn noted that she "wanted to be able to address" comments Sam and his family had been making online about how Sam's The Bachelorette edit was allegedly unfair, inaccurate and offensive.
At the height of when Sam was receiving backlash for his behavior on The Bachelorette, Sam had posted smoke and mirror emojis via Instagram Stories, suggesting things were not as they appeared to be on the show.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
Sam's family, however, was much more vocal about their frustrations with Sam's portrayal on The Bachelorette. They had posted fiery messages about Sam's unflattering edit aimed at The Bachelorette producers.
On The Men Tell All, Jenn admitted there were several "red flags" she had initially ignored with Sam and he never really tried to get to know her.
Jenn then looked at Sam directly and said she was about to say something in words he could understand, clearly taking a jab at his intelligence.
Jenn said she was going to keep "the main thing, the main thing," which was a reference to Sam's catchphrase on The Bachelorette.
ADVERTISEMENT
"What I was upset, though, was the fact that I watched this back and saw how you interacted with all these men, huffing and puffing your chest everywhere and the blatant disrespect to everybody. And then on top of that, our relationship, everything was about you, the entire time."
Jenn accused Sam of constantly talking about himself and how he was feeling.
"Instead of growing and learning from that, you decided to double down on that and have your friends and family go out online and defend your honor when you're a grown man!" Jenn firmly stated.
"Instead of taking accountability for your actions, you decided to blame it on the producers, the edit, the TV show, or whatever it was. At the end of the day, the man that I saw on TV was exactly the man I sat across from the entire journey!"
Jenn asked Sam to reflect, grow, and learn from his experiences -- and mistakes -- on the show.
"If you don't, I feel very, very sorry for who you end up with, because the delusional world you are living in right now, and this denial, is not going to work for anybody!" Jenn snapped.
Sam admitted in reply, "I definitely lost myself in some of those moments right there. And I wish that I could go back and redo them, truthfully."
Sam thanked Jenn for teaching him new things about himself and how to better himself, and Jenn concluded, "I truly hope that you mean that and you're not just saying that to say that, because I do want the best for you."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
Sam was criticized over the course of The Bachelorette season because he appeared to talk in circles and make love claims without providing any concrete examples on why Jenn was the right woman for him.
When asked a serious question, he'd grab Jenn's face and make out with her or just talk about his own The Bachelorette journey.
At one point, Sam admitted he thought Daisy Kent or Maria Georgas was going to star on The Bachelorette instead of Jenn. (Sam said on The Men Tell All that he meant no disrespect by making that comment and also never called Jenn "dull").
ADVERTISEMENT
Sam, for instance, said he loved Jenn because she's "selfless," but he couldn't come up with a single instance when Jenn had acted selflessly during their time together.
New The Bachelor star Grant Ellis recently said on "The Viall Files" podcast of Sam, "I think that he was just trying to be somebody on TV that he's not, you know what I'm saying?"
When trying to figure Sam out, Grant reasoned, "Maybe he was trying to be somebody he used to be and he was trying to be somebody that he's not. I feel like that's something he has to deal with internally, and he realizes that!"
While Sam didn't address his villainous The Bachelorette edit until The Men Tell All, presumably due to contractual obligations, his family refused to be silent, and many of the posts were captured in screenshots and uploaded on Reddit earlier this summer.
Sam's mother, Susan McKinney, argued, "There is nothing real about 'reality' tv. To destroy someone's character and manipulate the truth through editing is wrong on so many levels... There are several spoilers out there for who [Jenn] chooses in the end."
"Sam is a good guy regardless of how he is betrayed," she continued, "and I will no longer sit idly by and not speak up. Hey The Bachelorette it's called free speech. At least mine is honest, which is more than they can say."
And Sam's father, Jeff McKinney, revealed that Sam was "a complete wreck" over how he was portrayed on The Bachelorette's 21st season.
"Sam has (mostly) been the favorite with the first impression rose, etc. The spoiler was revealed and (in my opinion) the network had to paint Sam as this horrendous guy in order for Jenn not to look like a complete idiot," Jeff explained.
"Now I know why the network offers free counseling for 1 year after the show."
Jeff claimed Sam's words and phrases were cut and pasted to create a narrative The Bachelorette wanted to run with.
"Can't change what he said and how he said it, but they can change the scene, script and context and totally change the delivery. That's how I feel. #StandWithSamM," Jeff concluded.
ADVERTISEMENT
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
