Jason Mesnick: The explaining begins ... and ends
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(See updates below) The Bachelor star Jason Mesnick has been getting rotten Internet fruit thrown at his head since Monday night, when in front of some 17 million people he broke up with the woman he picked on the show's finale, Melissa Rycroft, and asked for another shot with runner-up Molly Malaney.
Having done that on Monday's "After the Final Rose" special, and explained what happened Tuesday on "After the Final Rose, Part 2," Mesnick and Malaney now have to face the press gauntlet. He explains that he told Rycroft over the phone that he wanted to end things about a week before "After the Final Rose" taped in January, but he wasn't sure what would happen on the show.
"Her response had been, 'How do you want me to react to that?' I wasn't going to coach her," he says. "I just told her that we were going to talk about things again [on the show] and however she felt is how she was going to react. I'm never going to tell anyone what to say."
He also notes that "It sucks that everyone thinks I'm dragging Melissa over the coals right in front of everybody because it's not true."
The full interview is at the LA Times Showtracker. Mesnick and Malaney are also doing a conference call with reporters today; we'll report back with any new details.
UPDATE: It's a good thing our colleague Denise Martin got to Mesnick yesterday, because ABC has cancelled the call with him and Malaney that was scheduled for later today. "Due to last minute schedule changes, the happy couple will be unable to do this conference call," an e-mail from the network reads.
Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss will be on the call instead -- which is probably making a fair number of reporters grumble right about now.
ABC execs are probably feeling very torn right now. Great ratings but toxic PR backlash. Not what they were expecting. ABC probably realizes that they've greatly damaged their Bachelor franchise with this farce and they and can't let Molly and Jason face the music since alone.
I still bet that the "happy couple" will be history by the time summer arrives.
I agree with you, Iggy. He will find some younger, prettier, wealthier woman than he has now. He has had his 15 minutes of fame and probably likes it. He will find someone else - they won't last.
c'mon people, give the couple a break and leave them alone...let them have a fighting chance to succeed at a happy ending.
Well said by the IggyPop posting! In my opinion, ABC could have handled the break-up differently and not before a National TV audience.
ABC's is owned by Disney and claims to be a family oriented network that has degraded its reputation with this scripted show giving itself a huge black eye. Fleiss's damage control didn't work when things leaked out on the Internet he is a sham along with cry boy Mesnick who could have refused to go along with the rating ploy since he no longer had the same feelings for Ms. Rycroft when the show ended.
It's all phoney baloney, who cares... these kind of shows are just big farces mocking real relationships/marriage
Give them a chance! I did prefer Melissa, but with all the cameras and all the expectations, and on-the-spot decision-making, it would probably be a confusing time for anyone. If Jason and Molly do end up happy and married, then it was the right move for everyone.
I am one of the few people that probably feels this way, but Jason did the right thing! Watching the show, Melissa was portrayed as the innocent victim, but that is not entirely true either. It takes 2 to make a relationship work, and she is as much at fault as Jason is.
From the start of the season, Jason and Molly had extraordinary chemistry. Molly is mature, level headed, and ready to be a step mom. Melissa was very clingy during the entire season, and she seemed rather immature with her visit with Ty. Ty needs an adult figure for a step mom, not a big sister/cheerleader. I also think that Deanna's visit and her advice to Jason started the problem.
I am proud of Jason for doing the right thing and ending the Melissa engagement. Jason and Molly, along with Ty will make a good family.
What a jerk. He dumps a girl six weeks after proposing and then tries to make her look bad. Grow up man
How much backlash can there be when Part 2 of 'After the Rose' show still get 11 million people and a 4.0 demo rating.
In the end, people will love fan favorite Jillian as the new Bachelorette come May and all will be forgiven.
Get a life people. What would have been better, drag it out for 6-7 months & then break it off? It's always been a little much to ask to build any kind of lasting relationship in that kind of fairy tale setting. I hope for their's & Ty's sake they can make it work