ABC pulled the second episode of Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss’ new show, The Proposal, after a contestant was accused of facilitating a sexual assault.
Last week, Bachelorette contestant Lincoln Adim was sentenced for indecent assault and battery. This week, the second episode of Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss’ new reality dating show, The Proposal, has been pulled from the scheduled due to serious allegations against one of the show’s contestants, Michael Friday.
Before we get to the details surrounding the cancelation of the second episode of The Proposal, it’s important to note that Lincoln’s sentencing happened last week, but the assault happened before he started filming the Bachelorette. And ABC states that the accusations against Michael Friday are “not related to the contestant’s appearance on The Proposal.”
More from Accept This Rose
- Bachelor in Paradise Season 9 finale: How to watch
- Dancing with the Stars winners in order (including the DWTS 2023 winner)
- The DWTS finale is going to be a long one tonight, December 5!
- 2 contestants are about to self-eliminate on Bachelor in Paradise
- The Golden Bachelor wedding special is coming to ABC
The decision to pull the second episode happened after a woman spoke out against Friday on social media.
After seeing Michael Friday in ABC’s promotional videos/photos for The Proposal, Wisconsin resident Erica Denae Meshke made accusations against him in a public Facebook post.
Meshke claims she met Friday via Tinder last November and was raped by two of his friends.
“This person found me on Tinder and asked to meet me,” Meshke wrote on Facebook. “He invited me to a get together in the lobby/entertainment room of an apartment complex, Diamond Tower. When I arrived, it was just him and two other 50ish year-old men whom he referred to as his “friends.” They poured me a drink, and then I was left alone with the two older men.”
Meshke went on to say that the guy she met on Tinder (allegedly Michael Friday) “never came back” and she was “left alone with the two older men.”
“The original guy never came back, despite me calling and texting. I was told by his friends that he would be back soon. So while I waited, I accepted another drink, which I know now was spiked.
I was taken to an apartment upstairs by one of the older men, and the things I endured for the next 5 hours were unspeakable.”
Once ABC caught wind of Meshke’s allegations, they decided to pull the episode that was set to air June 25. The network notes that Michael Friday didn’t make it past the first round, but made the decision to cancel the episode “while the matter is under review.”
The big question is — why is Lincoln Adim still on The Bachelorette?
ABC acted quickly to pull an episode, but have yet to do anything about Lincoln Adim’s appearance on several episodes of the Bachelorette that haven’t aired yet.
Why wasn’t he edited out of the rest of the season after ABC found out he was sentenced for indecent assault and battery?