There’s still so much that we don’t know, with statements and rumors that seem to be in conflict, and dumb guys saying dumber things instead of telling us what happened.
And now, Corinne Olympios, the woman at the center of the controversial and mysterious scandal that got production suspended on Bachelor in Paradise, has finally broken her silence.
Speaking to TMZ, the one-time “Bachelor Villain” struck a much more serious tone than usual as she discussed the controversy.
“I am a victim and have spent the last week trying to make sense of what happened on June 4.”
“Although I have little memory of that night, something bad obviously took place, which I understand is why production on the show has now been suspended and a producer on the show has filed a complaint against the production.”
That’s all very … carefully worded and nuanced and exactly what she should be saying, considering the circumstances and the many, many potential legal complications.
But then she gets about as real as she can about what happened.
“As a woman, this is my worst nightmare and it has now become my reality.”
That’s the grim truth.
There’s a lot that makes this case complex, from questions of who’s culpable for what to questions about exactly what happened.
Unfortunately, it sounds like Corinne is nearly as in the dark as the rest of us.
“As I pursue the details and facts surrounding that night and the immediate days after, I have retained a group of professionals to ensure that what happened on June 4 comes to light and I can continue my life, including hiring an attorney to obtain justice and seeking therapy to begin dealing with the physical and emotional trauma stemming from that evening.”
That is … horrifying.
Any situation that looks like a sexual assault is going to be dreadful beyond words, but there’s a unique horror to having to piece together events after the fact along with the rest of the world.
Corinne is not the first member of the Bachelor in Paradise cast to speak out, but, as she herself said, she’s the victim.
We care a lot more about what she has to say about things than we do about a bystander.
To be clear, it looks like DeMario Jackson was nearly as much of a victim in this.
He’s already stated that the tapes will vindicate him, and Corinne hasn’t been pointing the finger at him, either.
Quite frankly, if they were both drinking all day, and if he was really too drunk to even get an erection, then it looks like the story’s pointing the finger at producers and crew.
Not all of them, obviously, but probably at anyone who let it happen and definitely at anyone who might have deliberately caused the situation.
Maybe we’ll find out.
Ugh, we can already see this becoming a ripped-from-the-headlines episode of Law & Order: SVU, but with a twist, because they love their twists, even when it makes the story completely different from the real headlines.
And yes, right now, it’s Warner Bros that’s carrying out the investigation, which is a little odd. They’re probably looking for liability issues and at who needs to get fired.
But it sounds like a police investigation is almost inevitable. We’d fully expect Warner Bros to hand over names and evidence to police, even if just to prove that they’re cooperating fully.
Maybe, once their investigation makes more headway, we’ll all know more.
Corinne Olympios, at least, deserves to know the full story of what happened to her.
