Meredith’s ‘Bachelorette’ Suitor Speaks Out Amid Star’s On-Set Sexual Assault Claims
Meredith Phillips claimed a masseuse sexually assaulted her during her run on The Bachelorette. After making the shocking claim, her former suitor Cory Higgins is speaking out exclusively to RadarOnline.com.
Phillips, whose season aired in January 2004, detailed the abuse on an episode of Reality Steve’s podcast.
“Normally, I wouldn’t really talk about this, but I’m going to tell you because it’s bothered me for years,” she said. “I know another friend of mine who is currently working on the show felt the same experience that I did about getting roofied in a hot tub and kind of accosted.”
When asked if she was roofied by a producer, she responded, “By a masseuse that a producer hired to come into my room and give me a massage. She said, ‘I’m going to give you a pill.’ I just assumed it was an aspirin or something to loosen up my back or Tylenol or something and it definitely wasn’t that, that’s for sure.”
She continued, “The last thing I remember is that she got naked and she was in the tub with me, rubbing my back, and rubbing areas that probably she shouldn’t have. Then I was put in bed and I woke up naked.”
She added that she was not under the influence of alcohol at the time of the alleged incident.
“When the pill kicked in, I couldn’t even move my body,” she said. “When I couldn’t move my body when she drew me a bath and got in with me naked, I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t move my limbs. I probably was drooling. I don’t know what I was given.”
“Most of the other crew didn’t know that this masseuse was coming in to give me a massage,” she said.
Phillips, who accepted suitor Ian McKee’s proposal before they split a year later, said that she never reported the incident because she “wanted to protect the franchise.”
When RadarOnline.com told Higgins of the alleged sexual assault, he was shocked.
“I got kicked off the first episode,” he told RadarOnline.com. “The booze was flowing, but I never felt unsafe during my time on the show.”
Higgins didn't recall seeing a masseuse on set.
This isn’t the first time the franchise has been hit with sexual assault allegations.
In June 2017, the spinoff Bachelor in Paradise temporarily suspended production when a producer raised concerns over a booze-filled sexual encounter between contestants Corinne Olympios and DeMario Jackson.
Warner Bros investigated the incident and found no misconduct.
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