Bachelor in Paradise 4: Corinne Olympios never blamed DeMario Jackson

We know that Corinne Oylmpios’ big Bachelor in Paradise interview with Chris Harrison is airing tonight, but we thought we’d save you a little time in talking about some of what’s going to be said in it now. Corinne’s been at the center of the news cycle virtually from the moment filming on the show was shut down over an alleged incident between herself and DeMario Jackson. Eventually an investigation into the incident showed that there was no wrongdoing on the part of production, and filming resumed without either party being present for it.

The statement below, which Corinne gave to People Magazine in preparation of the interview tonight, is really the only thing that you need to know. Here, she addresses her previous statement through legal counsel, one where she labeled herself a “victim” of what transpired:

“At that point in time, I saw myself as a victim of having something this serious happen to you and have the media paint you a certain way that you know you aren’t and having all these people make their judgments and comments and they don’t even know what happened or went on … That’s what I’m a victim of. I never meant that I was a victim of DeMario. I strongly believe he had no bad intentions at all. It was all good. It was unfortunate that no one really knew how intoxicated I actually was at the time. I believe that nobody knew that. It was nobody’s fault. I was a victim of not really knowing what happened at the time. We were just really trying to get to bottom of everything.”

It’s not our place to judge how intoxicated Corinne was or precisely how much production could have or should have done for it. The issue that rises out of all of this comes via the implications. If someone says the word “victim” as a result of an incident where there is both sexual contact and alcohol involved, there are going to be some outlets that assume the world. You can see how this statement could have been harmful to DeMario, even if Corinne didn’t mean for it to be so. Meanwhile, the fact that this interview and the scandal even happened is proof-positive that someone was at fault. Production probably should’ve stepped in — even if these sort of super-lewd antics aren’t that far beyond the realm of possibility for this show, you do have to realize that this is the sort of stuff that’s never going to make ABC’s family-hour programming in the first place. There’s no reason to continue that since it would never air in a million years.

Oh, and some other stuff is happening as well…

There is still a season of Bachelor in Paradise to discuss, even if there is a certain degree of it that is overwhelmed by the controversy. Last night wasn’t exactly a banner night thanks to some pettiness and treatment of Christen by some of the other women; we’ll see if tonight turns out any better, but you can head over here if you want to read more about it. (Photo: ABC.)