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Chris Harrison says the legal warning over promotion for his new dating series, The Vow<\/em>, feels \u201cpersonal.\u201d<\/p>\n Warner Bros. Television, which produces The Bachelor<\/em>, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Fox News Media and Lionsgate Alternative Television, the companies behind the project.<\/p>\n The 55-year-old discussed the disagreement in an interview with USA TODAY<\/a> published October 22.<\/p>\n Harrison is both the host and an executive producer of the series. His wife, entertainment correspondent Lauren Zima, also serves as an executive producer.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see them going after the 50, 60, 70 other relationship dating shows that have come on in the time that I was there or since I left,\u201d Harrison said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been one show that they\u2019ve gone after. Is that a coincidence? You be the judge.\u201d<\/p>\n A Warner Bros. Television representative declined USA TODAY\u2019s request for comment on his remarks.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The September 16 teaser featured falling rose petals and Harrison approaching a red rose on the ground. Its slogan was \u201cRoses fade, true love lasts forever.\u201d<\/p>\n Two days later, Warner Bros. sent its warning. According to TheWrap<\/a>, which reviewed the correspondence, the studio argued that the imagery copied recognizable promotional elements of its franchise and traded on the audience\u2019s association with Harrison.<\/p>\n The studio also challenged a mansion image that it believed recalled the Bachelor Mansion, along with the teaser\u2019s use of the words \u201cthe bachelor,\u201d according to Mediaite\u2019s account of the letter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fox\u2019s lawyers responded on September 24. They disputed Warner Bros.\u2019 claim to falling rose imagery or the words \u201cthe bachelor\u201d when used to describe an unmarried man, and accused the studio of trying to restrict a competitor\u2019s advertising.<\/p>\n Fox also argued that the teaser parodied familiar dating-show conventions, pointing to Harrison\u2019s decision to leave the rose behind.<\/p>\n Warner Bros. said in its letter that it had not seen the series and had no objection to Harrison hosting another dating program in itself.<\/p>\n The promotional campaign will include local commercial slots on ABC-affiliated stations in nearly a dozen markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas.<\/p>\n TMZ reported<\/a> that advertisements are planned during the November 12 broadcast of Grey\u2019s Anatomy<\/em> in several of those markets.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Harrison hosted The Bachelor<\/em> and its spinoffs from 2002 until 2021. His departure followed criticism of an Extra<\/em> interview with Rachel Lindsay in which he defended contestant Rachael Kirkconnell over photographs of her attending an antebellum-themed fraternity event in 2018.<\/p>\n He apologized and initially stepped away from hosting. Warner Horizon and ABC Entertainment confirmed his permanent exit that June, as ABC News reported<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n The series centers on Jace Cates, a 30-year-old mortgage loan officer from Oregon, as he dates 10 women seeking marriage.<\/p>\n The October 22 promo introduced the contestants, including Kylee Russell, who previously appeared on The Bachelor<\/em> and Bachelor in Paradise<\/em>.<\/p>\nHarrison Questions Why His Show Was Singled Out<\/h2>\n
A Rose Teaser Prompted Warner Bros.\u2019 Warning<\/h2>\n
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Fox Nation Plans Ads During \u2018Grey\u2019s Anatomy\u2019<\/h2>\n
Harrison\u2019s \u2018Bachelor\u2019 Run Ended in 2021<\/h2>\n
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\u2018The Vow\u2019 Follows One Man and 10 Women<\/h2>\n