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'The Bachelorette': Riley slammed for 'toxic masculinity' after he makes Spencer bleed and calls him 'lunch meat'

'Riley is such a bully tbh, spencer has done nothing ‘douchey’ so far? Getting the first rose doesn’t make you a douche,' a fan commented

A lot of firsts have happened in this week's episode of 'The Bachelorette.' New guy Spencer Robertson, who received the first rose from new bachelorette Tayshia Adams, is at loggerheads with Riley Christian. After Clare Crawley made it evident that she was all for Dale Moss and that no one stood a chance against him (even though, she tried her best to give everyone a fair shot at love), the men were naturally more invested and focussed on winning over Tayshia. It seemed as if she were all they had in life.  

As per the norm, Tayshia spends time with each of them, trying to understand better and exploring each of the equations she may have with the men on the show. She seemed to be taken by Spencer, who was quite the charmer and totally put people on the edge with his confident entry. The men were wary of him and knew he would give them a tough competition. 

These strong sentiments surfaced when they were divided into teams for a game of pool basketball and in an effort to score a point, Riley elbowed Spencer, resulting in the latter bleeding from his mouth. Tayshia ran to check with Spencer but Riley was unphased. 

Later, when the group of men sat down and waited for their turn at solo dates with Tayshia, Riley indirectly told Spencer to back off, said he considered him "lunch meat." Fans however are not pleased that Riley would go to such extremes to solidify his position on the show. "I think Riley is the true villain for that lunch meat comment," a fan commented on a Reddit thread, while another responded: "Riley is a huge d**k, this is the second time he’s made a comment like that. The first time I’m willing to give him a pass cause he said it to that other asshole (can’t remember his name) but this time it was totally over the top, whether you think Spencer is a f**k boy or not."

"Riley is such a bully tbh, spencer has done nothing ‘douchey’ so far? Getting the first rose doesn’t make you a douche #thebachelorette #bachelorette," a user tweeted. "@BacheloretteABC Yall obviously don't watch basketball sitting here taking Riley's side after that ugly and unnecessary flagrant foul. #TheBachelorette," another pointed out.   "Riley hating every guy that Clare and Tayshia give a rose to is not a good look. Is that toxic masculinity about to boil over I hear? #TheBachelorette," one viewer expressed. 

Catch all the new episodes of 'The Bachelorette' on ABC every Tuesday at 8/7c. For more information, check your local listings.