The Abuse Allegations Against The Bachelorette Winner Devin Strader, Explained

Devin Strader is now contending with much more serious allegations than his recent Bachelorette controversy.

On September 16, noted Bachelor Nation blogger Reality Steve took to YouTube to share allegations that Strader had burglarized a former college girlfriend’s apartment back in 2017, breaking a restraining order against him. Though Reality Steve noted the restraining order was sealed, he published what appears to be an affidavit from an arrest warrant for Strader, along with other documents he claims are public record.

Just a few days later, The Hollywood Reporter obtained an unsealed petition from the ex-girlfriend, revealing even more terrifying allegations. Here’s everything we know.

Who is Devin Strader?

Strader is the controversial winner of the last season of The Bachelorette. Though Strader accepted Jenn Tran’s proposal during the finale, the 28-year-old broke up with Tran over the phone before the After the Final Rose ceremony. Following backlash for his behavior towards Tran, the entrepreneur attempted to defend himself in a since-deleted Instagram video, which included several screenshots of the former couple’s text messages.

After deleting the video, he re-uploaded a redacted version and apologized for sharing the messages. “I deeply am so sorry for showing sensitive information from the bottom of my heart,” he wrote in an Instagram Story on September 10, per E! News. “That was not my intention. My only intention is to show the relationship from my perspective.”

Tran herself responded to the videos on the Viall Files podcast, saying she felt “betrayed” and “disrespected” by the “invasion of privacy.”

What are the allegations from 2017?

Let’s start with the unsealed petition from his ex-girlfriend. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the ex-girlfriend—whom he dated during college—filed a restraining order against Strader in 2017, accusing him of physical, verbal, and mental abuse. “He has degraded me and taken everything from me,” she wrote in the petition, per THR. “My self confidence, self-esteem, and I hope no other girl ever has to go through what I went through.”

Here is a particularly terrifying excerpt from the THR article:

“She alleged that Strader once ‘put me in a choke hold covering my mouth’ and ‘spit on me and threw his drink on me at [a] Pelicans game in front of everyone in the stands.’ And after she awoke to bruises on her ‘knees, elbow, stomach, arms’ and a ‘pounding’ head, she claims he said he almost ‘killed’ her and didn’t ‘want to talk about it.’”

What happened next? According to an alleged affidavit shared by Reality Steve, Strader was accused of breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment, stealing a necklace he’d bought for her while they were still dating, and setting fire to her restraining order outside the apartment.

The officer that responded to the call noted “there was a jewelry box that had been gone through, a broken bottle of perfume, a makeup tray was dumped out,” per the affidavit, reportedly written by Baton Rouge Police Department officer Reese Jenkins. The document continued, “A diamond necklace was stolen during the burglary. The necklace that was taken had been one that the defendant had bought when they were still dating.”

Reality Steve also showed another document allegedly filed by the ex-girlfriend, in which she claimed Strader violated the restraining order on multiple occasions. According to his report, Strader pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay a $100 fine, court fees, do community service, and abide by the restraining order, while remaining “arrest/conviction free.” You can watch Reality Steve’s entire video here.

Devin Strader’s response:

The Bachelorette contestant denied the accusations in a statement to THR, which he also posted on Instagram Stories.

“Following my time on The Bachelorette, there have been many stories and misrepresentations put out in the media that I want to take a moment to address,” he wrote before reiterating praise for Jenn Tran and apologizing for posting a video with their text messages, which he described as a “lapse in judgement.” As for the alleged restraining order, this is what he had to say:

“Most recently, there have been challenges from a low point in my past that have been brought up and severely misconstrued. The accusations are simply not true as I have never inappropriately laid hands on another individual or treated my ex-girlfriend in any of the ways I have been depicted,” he wrote. “That restraining order was never granted, and fully dismissed. My college ex-girlfriend and I ended up reconciling and eventually ended our relationship on good terms. This was the first time I ever fell in love and I learned a lot from our relationship. It was a growing experience for both of us.”

He concluded his message, “I know that I have made mistakes in my life and that I am not perfect, but I have continued to work every day to be someone that my family and friends would be proud of, and I am truly thankful to everyone who has been by my side.”

Any other responses?

A source close to the show tells THR: “We take the safety of our contestants very seriously and make every effort to conduct thorough diligence. As exhaustive as our vetting process is, this protective order did not surface in our searches.”

Based on THR’s reporting, Strader’s affidavit of a burglary arrest was publicly available while the Bachelorette producers were conducting their vetting process; the details of the alleged restraining order were, at the time, sealed.

This post may be updated.