Rachel Lindsay was all smiles as she made her return to Instagram on Saturday after disabling her account a week earlier.
The 35-year-old Bachelorette star shared her fit figure in athleisure as she went out for a hike in the hills above Los Angeles.
She promised ‘good vibes only’ amid her return, though she originally suspended her account after allegedly receiving abusive and harassing messages after she spoke up about Rachael Kirkconnell’s racism controversy that has consumed the Bachelor franchise in recent weeks.
Top of the world: Rachel Lindsay, 35, celebrated her return to Instagram on Saturday with a lovely photo of herself on her ‘first time hiking in LA’
Rachel beamed in a snap shared to her Instagram Stories from high in the hills.
She had on a white Andorfins tank top with navy blue leggings and gray Nike trainers.
The reality TV star had a scarf wrapped around her neck to wear to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, along with a white baseball cap to keep the sun out of her eyes.
‘First time hiking in LA,’ she captioned her picture.
New leaf: She promised ‘good vibes only’ after disabling her account last month
Sunny: She matched her sunny disposition with a pretty photo of sunflowers
Another short clip in her Insta Stories panned across the city below ‘Good vibes only’ was spelled out.
The Extra correspondent posted a lovely photo of sunflowers in a square vase on her main page, which fit with her sunny mood.
‘”I want to be like a sunflower so that even on the darkest days I will stand tall and find the sunlight,”‘ she captioned her photo, adding some sunflower emojis for good measure.
Rachel didn’t have anything to say about the ongoing Bachelor franchise controversies that drove her off Instagram, but she reportedly took her social media break following harassment in response to her statements about Rachael Kirkconnell’s racism controversy on The Bachelor and a contentious interview host Chris Harrison had with her.
Taking a break: Rachel left Instagram in the face of harassment after she spoke out against Bachelor finalist Rachael Kirkconnell’s allegedly racist behavior and sparred with Chris Harrison over it
Last month, Rachel’s Higher Learning co-host, Van Lathan, revealed the former Bachelorette ‘disabled her’ account due to cruel harassment.
‘She did it because that’s how much hate she’s getting from Bachelor fans who are spamming her with all kinds of rude and hateful things to say,’ the podcaster, 40, said in an Instagram video.
He continued: ‘Y’all have got to get a f**king life. Seriously.’
‘Rachel is not responsible for Chris Harrison, a 49-year-old man who can’t read the room in these 2021 times. She’s not responsible for that,’ Lathan said. ‘It’s not her job to make excuses or provide cover for somebody who doesn’t understand what the f**k triggers people in today’s world. It’s not. You’re going after the wrong person.’
Online harassment: Last month, Rachel’s Higher Learning co-host, Van Lathan, revealed the former Bachelorette ‘disabled her’ account due to cruel harassment; seen in 2019
Rocky month: The move comes two weeks after her controversial interview with Bachelor host Chris Harrison, who made the decision to step aside from the show after defending contestant Rachael Kirkconnell’s past racist behavior (pictured in 2020)
Defending his pal: ‘Rachel, we love you, we’re with you,’ Lathan concluded the video
‘Rachel, we love you, we’re with you,’ Lathan concluded the video.
He captioned the footage: ‘Leave Rachel the f**k alone. This harassment is going too far.’
Lathan, then, asked Harrison directly if he was ‘okay with people getting at Rachel to the point she can’t even exist on IG.’
‘Is anyone from the entire Bachelor Nation going to stand up and condemn this harassment of a Black woman?’ he inquired. ‘Yo it’s just a fucking TV SHOW, y’all need to relax for real.’
Taking a stand: ‘Is anyone from the entire Bachelor Nation going to stand up and condemn this harassment of a Black woman?’ he inquired; Lindsay seen in 2017
Fan favorite: Lindsay made history as the first Black Bachelorette in 2017
After Lindsay left Instagram temporarily, Bachelorette finalist Kirkconnell came to her defense on social media.
Addressing her fans, Kirkconnell, 24, wrote: ‘You have the opportunity to make a positive difference, to use your energy towards change, and to come together and realize what’s right in a time like this.
‘If you are choosing to rather spread hate, to send cruel, vicious messages, to be mad about people being hurt by racism…do better. Be better.’
She went on: ‘Rachel Lindsay and other BIPOC have called for myself and others to be held accountable. This is needed, and she does not deserve the hate she is receiving.
‘Recognize that she along with every person you send hateful messages to, are human. We are real people, and she should not have to disable her account to escape this toxicity. This is not okay.’
Kirkconnell came under fire herself when Bachelor fans shared old social media posts that appeared to show her liking photos from friends wearing MAGA hats or posing with Confederate flags.
She also wore a culturally insensitive Native American costume in one Halloween photo and was seen in photos allegedly attending a sorority event held at a plantation.
Standing up for her: After Lindsay left Instagram temporarily, Bachelorette finalist Kirkconnell came to her defense on social media, despite having originated the controversy
Strange bedfellows: Kirkconnell told her fans to ‘be better’ and to stop targeting Lindsay with hateful messages. It came after Lindsay deactivated her own Instagram on Friday due to the harassment
Following the furor over Kirkconnell’s allegedly racist actions, Harrison had a contentious interview with Lindsay in which he defended Kirkconnell.
Afterward, he came under fire from fans for defending the bigoted posts and stepped away from the franchise temporarily, though it’s unclear if it was a voluntary move or if he was suspended.
Lindsay previously made history as the first Black Bachelorette in 2017.
Last week, she announced she wanted to be finished with the Bachelor franchise and would be cutting ties with the organization as soon as her contract was over on her podcast.
‘As far as me, I’m f***ing tired. I’m exhausted. I have truly had enough,’ she said. My entire reason for doing The Bachelorette — and I was lucky it worked out for me in the most beautiful way, in finding [husband] Bryan [Abasolo] — is that I wanted to be representative as a Black woman to this audience. And I wanted to pave the way for more people to have this opportunity,’ she said.
In hot water: Harrison defended racist actions of Bachelor front-runner Rachael Kirkconnell
Conflicted: Lindsay said she was lucky to meet husband Bryan Abasolo on The Bachelorette, but she ‘wanted the franchise to be better,’ adding she has a ‘love-hate relationship with it’
Solidarity: Nearly all the current Bachelor contestants, including Kirkconnell, posted a message to social media defending Lindsay and expressing their disappointment with Harrison
‘In some ways, that has happened. I wanted the franchise to be better. I have a love-hate relationship with it. I’m connected to it.’
She added: ‘How much more do I want to be affiliated with this? How much more can I take of things like this? I said I was going to leave if they didn’t have leads of color. Okay, they did that, and they made some other changes. They hired a diversity consultant. … Did Chris Harrison not sit through that?’
Following Harrison’s contentious interview with Lindsay, nearly every contestant from the current Bachelor season shared the same message to their social media accounts standing in solidarity with Lindsay.
Supportive: ‘Rachel Lindsay continues to advocate with “grace” for individuals who identify as BIPOC within this franchise,’ the women concluded; seen in 2019 in Westlake Village, Calif.
‘We are the women of Bachelor Season 25. Twenty-five women who identify as BIPOC were cast on this historic season that was meant to represent change,’ the statement began.
‘We are deeply disappointed and want to make it clear that we denounce any defense of racism,’ it continued. ‘Any defense of racist behavior denies the lived and continued experiences of BIPOC individuals. These experiences are not to be exploited or tokenized.
‘Rachel Lindsay continues to advocate with “grace” for individuals who identify as BIPOC within this franchise,’ the women concluded. ‘Just because she is speaking the loudest, doesn’t mean she is alone. We stand with her, we hear her, and we advocate for change alongside her.’
Receipts: Kirkconnell was accused of liking racist social media posts, and she was seen in photos attending a 2018 sorority event at a plantation in Georgia
Notably, Kirkconnell also shared the statement in support of Lindsay.
She also shared an apology on social media.
‘At one point, I didn’t recognize how offensive and racist my actions were, but that doesn’t excuse them,’ she wrote. ‘My age or when it happened does not excuse anything. They are not acceptable or okay in any sense. I was ignorant, but my ignorance was racist.’