Content warning: This article mentions sexual assault involving minors.
Disclaimer: Alex Brown has not been charged with a crime, and no police or incident reports have been filed against him. All rumors discussed are alleged.
Once again, the men of Netflix’s Love Is Blind are making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Before the season even aired, rumors of nasty reputations began circulating on social media — apparently, Minneapolis is one of those cities where everyone knows everyone.
Last year, the bombshell of the season was that cast member Tyler Francis had “secret children” that he failed to mention to his then-partner, Ashley Adionser. The year before, Trevor Sova was called out on social media for having a girlfriend throughout filming. But I fear this year the gossip transcended from rumors to allegations — some serious ones.
Alex Brown seemed like this season’s sweetheart — kind, cute, emotionally intelligent, and aware of his attachment styles. Though the producers gave him a great cut, six women have come forward since the season’s premiere to speak of their high school experiences partying with Brown in 2015 and 2016, when the contestant was around 20.
According to storytimewithrikkii, who makes commentary content about reality television, Brown was posted in Minneapolis’ “Are we dating the same guy?” Facebook group last June, before Netflix released season eight’s cast list. The comments were concerning, to say the least.
One reads, “He went to my school. He likes younger ladies.” Another says, “I used to party at his house in high school with my friends. He was 19-20, and we were 15-17… he definitely hooked up/took advantage of some of us due to our age.”
These comments, mixed with Brown’s recent thrust into the limelight, lit a grease fire.
Allegedly, Brown would hold basement parties and supply the underage girls with alcohol. According to an ex-girlfriend, he also wrote an essay where he was prompted to “come up with an actual situation in [his] life that [he’s] not sure was either morally right or wrong and to analyze it from the lens of a utilitarian.”
His essay argued that if a woman is sexually assaulted in her sleep and never finds out, there is no negative consequence for the victim. When his ex attempted to dispute this argument, she shared her own SA trauma, then Brown responded with, “Do you think it had negatively impacted your life?” followed by, “Were you asking for it? I’m kidding. I’m so sorry.”
Unfortunately, his insensitivity toward sexual abuse does not seem to be an isolated experience, as another woman describes having a similar conversation with Brown in 2018. This woman explains that Brown confided in her about something deeply personal he was struggling with. Though she does not share what exactly this was, Brown described it to her as a “mental illness that he cannot control.”
Following this confession, the woman explained to Brown via a text thread that this was profoundly triggering for her to hear due to her own trauma of being sexually assaulted at a young age. The screenshots of this thread show Brown being combative toward her for making something he was struggling with “about herself.”
Brown’s text read, “I told you a struggle that I’m dealing with deep down. Do not make that about yourself.” The woman responded, “But that was a f*cking trigger, and you don’t get to determine that,” to which Brown responded, “I do not care. That’s not the point.”
It seems that every year, without fail, the behind-the-scenes gains more traction than the season itself. TikTok comments become littered with, “Does production even background check?” and “This has to be intentional at this point.” It happens so often that successful creators like StorytimewithRikkii, Realityashley, and Positivelyuncensored have launched their careers off of it. Don’t get me wrong — usually, I eat it up like everyone else, but Brown’s case is deeply disappointing.
So tell me, Nick and Vanessa, how bad does it have to get before Love Is Blind properly vets their contestants?