Thanks to the mammoth success of the reality TV shows The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, millions of Bachelor Nation fans care very deeply about the franchise. Many of those fans speak out when the shows’ stars get body-shamed, past cast members reach milestones, or when the franchise features a trigger warning.
While The Bachelorette’s fans have helped make it one of the best reality dating shows, they can still be a headache sometimes. After all, The Bachelorette fans don’t tend to be shy when they get upset. A perfect example of that is how upset fans were when they learned Blake Horstmann was forced to play The Bachelor franchise’s producers $175,000.
Why Blake Horstmann Reportedly Was Forced To Pay The Bachelor Franchise’s Producers $175,000
When most people tune into shows like The Bachelorette or Bachelor in Paradise, they just want to be entertained. As a result, most Bachelor Nation fans don’t put a lot of thought into the casting process behind those shows.
Unfortunately for Blake Horstmann, part of the casting process wound up coming back to haunt him. The reason for that is something Blake did during that process allowed The Bachelor’s producers to come after him.
In March 2023, Puck News published an article about The Bachelor franchise’s producers going after Blake. Their reporting was deemed so credible that Time cited their article for a September 2023 article about the conditions that reality stars work under.
Puck News’ article revealed what led to Blake being forced to engage in a legal battle with the producers behind Bachelor Nation’s shows. Ultimately, that would be a battle that Blake would lose, costing him a staggering amount of money.
How many reality shows has Blake Horstmann appeared in?
Show: | Year: |
|---|---|
The Bachelorette | 2018 |
The Bachelor | 2018-2019 |
Bachelor in Paradise | 2019 |
All Star Shore | 2022 |
Love Is Blind | 2024 |
After Blake starred in seasons of The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise, he did something a lot of reality stars do. Blake went on to give a series of podcast interviews.
Since Bachelor Nation fans tend to be very passionate about the franchise, many love learning more about the show. As a result, Blake’s decision to appear on a series of podcasts would have been well received by fans.
However, it eventually became extremely clear that Bachelor Nation producers didn’t like Blake’s podcast appearances.
When people get cast in a reality show like The Bachelorette or Bachelor in Paradise, they have to sign a contract. As a part of that contract, the reality star agrees not to say or do certain things in public.
The most obvious example of that is that reality stars aren’t allowed to publicly reveal spoilers about the shows they appear in. However, those contracts can also include a myriad of other rules that reality stars have to follow. As it turns out, that is what got Blake in big trouble.
Puck News report revealed that the contract that Blake signed to become a Bachelor Nation star included a confidentiality clause. That meant that Blake wasn’t allowed to make media appearances without permission.
Unfortunately for Blake, he didn’t get permission to appear on the “tell-all” podcasts he was interviewed on.
Thanks to clauses in the contract, The Bachelor franchise’s producers forced Blake into arbitration. The producers then successfully argued that Blake had broken his contract with them. According to Puck News’ reporting, the arbitrator sided with the producers.
Puck News’
article revealed that another former
Bachelor Nation
star was ordered to pay the franchise’s producers a lot of money. After making at least 4 unapproved media appearances,
Luke Parker was ordered to pay $100,000
.
As a result, the arbitrator ordered Blake to pay the producers $150,000 for his breaches of contract. The arbitrator also ordered Blake to pay the producers an additional $25,000 to pay for the arbitration costs. Ultimately, that meant that Blake had to pay the producers a total of $175,000.
Why Fans Were Mad About Blake Horstmann Having To Pay $175,000 To The Bachelor Franchise’s Producers
In 2023, news of Blake Horstmann having to pay $175,000 to The Bachelor franchise’s producers was revealed to the public. When news of the situation was posted on the r/thebachelor subreddit, some fans of the franchise were really upset.
The top most-upvoted response to the Reddit thread questioned how The Bachelor franchise’s producers were okay with taking Blake’s money. “While it sounds like the case had merit, I do not know how these people sleep at night litigating against Blake after what they did to him, and I’m not even a huge Blake fan.”
The second most-upvoted response went further by suggesting that Blake should countersue the producers. After that, another response expressed outrage that other Bachelor Nation stars are allowed to go on podcasts, but Blake got fined a fortune for doing something similar.
“The producers are so vindictive with whom they choose to pursue arbitration against. I feel BIP tanked when it became clear there were protected people and people the producers would just as soon get eaten by all the crabs.”
Another response made a similar argument while suggesting why they thought Blake was singled out.
“A lot of bachelor/ette/paradise contestants do exactly what Blake did. The only difference is Blake doesn’t speak highly of the franchise… actually hates them… and so did Luke. The big naysayers are the ones who get sued. They’re essentially hushing them up so they don’t spill too much.”
The Reddit post received many more responses that were siding with Blake. However, there also were some who argued that Blake should have known what he was risking by appearing on the podcasts.
