For the second time in two nights, DeMario Jackson sat down with E! News on Tuesday and shared his side of the Bachelor in Paradise story.
In previous interview segments, the reality star broke down at one point over the reaction of his mother to the news that he was being investigated for sexual misconduct.
He also explained in explicit detail how Corinne Olympios had shoved her vagina in her face during their notorious hook-up.
This hook-up, as you must know by now, resulted in production getting shut down on Season 4 of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette spinoff.
Warner Bros. conducted an internal investigation amidst claims that Olympios never gave her consent for things to get hot and heavy between her and Jackson in a pool, following many drinks the two downed prior to taking their clothes off.
Upon reviewing tape of the incident, the production company announced last week that filming on Season 4 would resume; that no misconduct took place; and that both Jackson and Olympios were welcome back in Mexico for the series.
Neither is expected to accept this invitation, however.
When asked by E! News yesterday about being publicly associated with a rumored sexual assault,” Jackson responded as follows:
“It’s every man’s biggest fear. No man wants to be attached to that. That ruins you for life. That’s something that sticks with you.”
Corinne has never come out and leveled this exact allegation.
She carefully avoided using Jackson’s name when stating two weeks ago that she had been “victimized” during her time on the show.
It’s believed her beef is with the producers who did not step in to stop the drunken shenanigans, not with Jackson himself.
“When I have children they are going to Google their dad’s name and this is going to appear,” Jackson told E! of the fallout from the scandal, adding:
“That’s my biggest fear.”
It’s an understandable one.
Still, despite his frustrations, Jackson actually came to Corinne’s defense in this interview.
He says he was appalled by the labels viewers put on himself after news of the controversy broke, along with what they said about Olympios both now and after she appeared on The Bachelor this past spring.
“Before either of us commented on it, I was already a ‘rapist’…and [Corinne’s] a ‘whore’ and she’s a ‘slut,"” Jackson said.
“They were slut-shaming her because of what she did last season with Nick [Viall]. For me, it goes back to the human race. We failed.”
Does Jackson think there was some kind of conspiracy against him?
How did things spiral so far out of control, to the point where his name got dragged through the mud is almost the dirtiest way possible?
I got played…not by her but I got played in general,” is all he says on the matter. “I am not sure by who, but I got played.”
He’s not angry at Olympios, DeMario concludes. He’s just “mad at the situation.
The same can be said for critics of Bachelor in Paradise, many of whom can’t believe ABC will air Season 4 as scheduled this summer, not after everything that has transpired over the past few weeks.
Okay, fine, they say, no sexual assault took place.
But should the network maybe reconsider the premise of a show that seems wholly based on getting contestants to drink a lot and then have sex with each other?
In response to the resumption of filming, an attorney for Olympios has said his client still plans to pursue a legal case.
“It needs to be made crystal clear that production of Bachelor in Paradise was shut down because of multiple complaints received from BiP producers and crew members on the set,” says Marty Singer, adding:
“It was not shut down due to any complaint filed by Corinne against anyone.”
TMZ, meanwhile, reports that the show will not implement a two-drink-per-hour maximum for contestants, with bartenders being told to keep an especially close eye on anyone who seems especially drunk.
We’re sure this will solve every problem.
