The Bachelorette 'winner' Erich Schwer apologizes for high school blackface photo

Welp, rose lovers, it's time to set the sign outside the Bachelor franchise offices back to "It Has Been 0️⃣ Days Since a Contestant Had to Apologize for Past Problematic Actions."

After images of Erich Schwer wearing blackface in a high school yearbook photo surfaced this week on reddit, The Bachelorette season 19 contestant took to Instagram to offer a mea culpa for the offensive image.

"I wholeheartedly apologize for the insensitive photo of me in blackface from my high school yearbook that has been circulating," Schwer wrote in a post on Sept. 8. "What I thought at the time was a representation of my love for Jimi Hendrix was nothing but ignorance." Read his full statement below.

Schwer was unofficially crowned the "winner" on the September 6 episode, when Bachelorette Gabby Windey sent everyone home and declared her love for the 29-year-old real estate analyst from New Jersey. (Bachelorette Rachel Recchia, meanwhile, still has three men left.)

This is, of course, not the first time a Bachelor or Bachelorette contestant has had to apologize for racist and problematic behavior or statements. In 2018, Bachelorette contestant Garrett Yrigoyen issued a mea culpa for his "offensive" social media history; season 15 Bachelorette Hannah Brown apologized in 2020 for saying the N-word while attempting to rap a DaBaby song; Bachelor season 25 "winner" Rachael Kirkconnell issued a statement of regret in 2021 over "racist and offensive" photos from her past; and host Chris Harrison ultimately exited the show in June of 2021 after apologizing three times for defending Kirkconnell's actions in an interview with former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay.

The two-part season finale of The Bachelorette begins Tuesday, Sept. 13, on ABC. Schwer — along with Recchia's final pick — is expected to be in studio live for part 2, which airs Sept. 20.

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