Ex-“Bachelor” host Chris Harrison’s new show “The Vow” ignites clash between Warner Bros. and Fox News

Ryan ColemanFri, October 2, 2026 at 12:34 AM UTC

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Chris Harrison for ‘The Vow’Credit: FOXKey Points -

Chris Harrison’s new dating show, The Vow, has ignited a clash between Warner Bros. Television and Fox News Media.

WBTV, which produces The Bachelor, sent a cease and desist letter to Fox, which is behind The Vow, alleging the new series rips off the series Harrison used to host.

WBTV accuses The Vow of improperly making use of trademarked elements like falling rose petals and the term “The Bachelor,” while Fox’s official response stresses that The Vow takes a “different approach” to the material.

The war of the roses is back on.

Chris Harrison made waves earlier this month when he was announced as the host of a new reality show produced by Fox News Media. The first look at The Vow, a dating series coming to Fox Nation (via Lionsgate Alternative Television) on Nov. 11,was decorated with falling rose petals, imagery of faraway mansions, and even the words “The Bachelor.”

Ring any bells? The Bachelor, which Harrison hosted for 25 seasons, came to the minds of many, including Warner Bros. Television, which has produced the reality juggernaut from the very beginning.

Entertainment Weekly has obtained copies of both a cease and desist WBTV sent to Fox on Sept. 18, and Fox’s terse response, sent WBTV’s way on Sept. 24. In this opening salvo of a potentially thorny dispute, WBTV claims that The Vow “improperly capitalizes on WB’s intellectual property,” while Fox chalks Warner Bros.’ tiff up to an effort to “restrict FOX Nation and Chris Harrison from promoting a competing dating show.”

Chris Harrison hosts ‘The Bachelor’ in 2019Credit: John Fleenor via Getty Images

Few reality shows have achieved the cultural footprint or staying power of The Bachelor, which has run nearly continuously on ABC since its 2002 debut, and has proliferated into a sprawling multimedia franchise. And WBTV won’t let Fox forget about it.

Throughout the cease and desist, Warner Bros. highlights the franchise’s “enormous success,” underscoring the “substantial resources” required to maintain such success. The copyrights, trademark rights, and “common law rights” that WBTV holds are at the center of the dispute.

First, Warner Bros. points to the falling rose petal motif through the Vow teaser. “Red roses are, of course, one of the central and instantly recognizable symbols of the Franchise,” the cease and desist reads. Then there is the image of a man in a suit holding a rose, the appearance of Harrison, who has become synonymous with The Bachelor, and even a “mansion in the background meant to evoke the iconic ‘Bachelor Mansion.’”

The teaser even displays an intertitle that just reads “The Bachelor.” Strung together, the full phrase reads: “Get ready. The Bachelor. The Women. The Drama.” But the cease and desist notes that it does not possess any record of granting Fox the rights to use such imagery or phrasing, and asks the network to remove such “infringing elements,” and refrain from drawing on them in the future.

In its response, Fox fires back, “You wrongly assume that Warner Bros. holds any rights whatsoever in a falling roses motif or in the words ‘The Bachelor,’ when used colloquially to describe a single man.” Further, the cease and desist “focuses myopically” on aspects of the teaser without seeing the whole, which the network claims “offers a different approach” from other shows in the reality dating space.

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In the release announcing The Vow shared with Entertainment Weekly in September, the network described the new series as focused on “meaningful relationships, commitment, and building a life together.” That focus is so serious that contestants will be encouraged to “leave the process if they no longer believe the relationship has a genuine future.”

The teaser ultimately sees Harrison throw a rose to the ground and announce, “Expecting someone else? Roses fade; true love lasts forever.” He then nearly steps on the rose before deciding to walk over it. For the uninitiated, roses are a central motif of The Bachelor franchise — tokens that bachelors and bachelorettes gift contestants to signify they have qualified for another week of competition.

Fox notes that the throw and near destruction of the rose in the teaser qualifies it as an instance of fair use under copyright law, as it “subverts and parodies typical dating shows.”

A spokesperson for Lionsgate declined to comment. EW has reached out to representatives for Warner Bros. Television and Fox News Media.

Kelsey Poe on season 19 of ‘The Bachelor’Credit: Rick Rowell/Walt Disney Television via Getty

Harrison exited The Bachelorin 2021. The move came amid a firestorm of scandal centering on season 25 contestant Rachael Kirkconnell, who was then competing for the heart of the franchise’s first Black Bachelor, Matt James. Photos of Kirkconnell attending a “plantation-themed” sorority party in 2018 surfaced, leading to widespread calls for her to be kicked off the show.

Harrison told former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay that he didn’t approve of the “judge, jury, executioner” attitude of Kirkconnell’s online critics, though Kirkconnell herself apologized for her “racist and offensive actions.” Harrison then issued his own set of apologies for the defense, announced a temporary hiatus from the franchise, and then packed his bags.

Two years later, Harrison said he was “heartbroken” and “gutted” over what happened. “I lost 20 pounds. I didn’t sleep, I didn’t eat,” said Harrison. “It was just one gut punch after the other, and mentally and physically I deteriorated pretty bad,” he said.

Former NFL pro and Bachelor season 5 star Jesse Palmer took over from Harrison as host beginning on season 26, which aired in 2021.

on Entertainment Weekly

Original Article on Source

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