Entertainment

Rachel Telling Lee Off Was So Worth The Wait

by Nicole Pomarico
Paul Hebert/ABC

Rachel Lindsay's season of The Bachelorette has been a huge milestone for the franchise, and it's not even over yet. As the first season to welcome a black Bachelorette, it symbolizes a long needed step toward diversity... but it wasn't all smooth sailing. During his time on the show, Lee Garrett definitely didn't make any friends, and now, Rachel finally gets to share what she thinks of him to his face. In a new preview from Monday night's The Bachelorette: Men Tell All special, Rachel tells Lee off, and the way she handles such a difficult situation couldn't have been more perfect.

From the beginning, Lee was a controversial contestant, especially after racially insensitive tweets were uncovered on his now-private Twitter account. (When Bustle reached out about these tweets and Lee's casting on the show, ABC and Warner Bros. declined to comment.) And then, once on the show, Lee frequently had conflict with the other contestants, like Kenny and Eric, leading Rachel to call him a snake on Twitter when she finally did eliminate him. But while the show was filming, Rachel never called Lee out directly, and some fans were disappointed that he never got truly and publicly called out in the way he might have deserved.

Get ready to let all that disappointment turn into sheer pride, because in the clip from Men Tell All, Rachel most definitely gets the last word.

Since this special is traditionally pretty dramatic, it's no surprise that Rachel's already promises not to break that tradition. When Rachel had the chance to tell Lee what she wanted to say to him, she put him in his place by pointing out his wasted potential and how she wanted to give him as little attention as possible.

She said:

"It's so disappointing to me because you had such strong opinions on such sensitive topics, and you turned it into something so ugly. Like, I didn't want to give any life into you, your opinions, or your brief time on the show. You had the opportunity to be about something so beautiful — and I'm not just talking about me, right? And I feel like I'm in such a unique position to where I have the opportunity to be a spokesperson for African Americans, for women."

And judging by the laughter coming from the other men from this season, it's apparent that fans weren't the only ones who have been holding their breaths, waiting for this moment. Atta girl, Rachel.

Rachel had a lot on her shoulders this season with the responsibility of being the first black Bachelorette, and it's hard to imagine how difficult it must have been to deal with Lee on top of it. But despite that, she handled the situation with Lee on the Men Tell All so maturely and with such grace (and sass), and it's so gratifying to see Lee finally get the undressing he deserved.

What will he say in response to her? The answer to that question will have to wait until Men Tell All, but from this preview alone, it seems like fans aren't going to want to miss it.