Warner Bros. has sent a cease-and-desist letter challenging promotional material for Fox Nation’s upcoming reality dating series Chris Harrison’s The Vow, prompting Fox News Media to reject claims that the project infringes on intellectual property connected to The Bachelor.
The dispute arrives ahead of the new show’s planned November debut. Harrison, who will host The Vow, previously hosted The Bachelor from 2002 to 2021.
In its letter, Warner Bros. Entertainment — identified as the owner of The Bachelor — alleged that a teaser for The Vow made unauthorized use of the studio’s copyrights and trademarks. Ahassim Rashid, the company’s vice president and intellectual property counsel, argued that the promotional video included several elements associated with the long-running dating show.
Warner Bros. objects to roses, wording and mansion imagery
Among the specific concerns raised by Warner Bros. were images of red rose petals falling behind foreground text. Rashid noted that the studio has licensed that motif to third parties for other advertising and promotional campaigns.
The letter also objected to the teaser’s use of the words “The Bachelor,” followed by an image of a man wearing a tuxedo and holding a rose. Warner Bros. additionally cited a mansion shown in the background, claiming that it was intended to evoke the “Bachelor Mansion.”
Rashid characterized the teaser as a “plain attempt to capitalize on and ‘ride on the coattails’” of The Bachelor.
The studio’s position, however, did not amount to an objection to Harrison fronting another dating series. In its letter, Warner Bros. said it had “no objection” to Fox and Lionsgate “releasing a dating show hosted by Chris Harrison in and of itself.” Its objections were instead directed at the imagery and language appearing in the teaser.
Fox News Media pushes back
Fox News Media executive vice president and general counsel Katherine Moran Meeks disputed Warner Bros.’ interpretation of the promotional material. She contended that the studio’s attorneys “wrongly assume that Warner Bros. holds any intellectual property rights whatsoever in a falling roses motif or in the words ‘The Bachelor’ when used colloquially to describe a single man.”
Fox News Media argued that falling rose petals are scènes à faire — familiar or stock elements associated with romantic storytelling — rather than imagery that Warner Bros. can exclusively control. In making that case, the company pointed to the appearance of such imagery in American Beauty, Moulin Rouge and Beauty and the Beast.
The network also maintained that the teaser’s use of “The Bachelor” constitutes protected speech. Moran Meeks argued that even if the brief reference was intended as a playful nod to Warner Bros.’ series, it still would not provide a foundation for a trademark infringement claim.
“Even assuming this fleeting use of ‘The Bachelor’ is also a tongue-in-cheek reference to your show, that kind of ‘word-play, ambiguity, irony and allusion’ receives full protection of the First Amendment and cannot support a claim for trademark infringement,” she wrote.
Moran Meeks went further in her response, accusing Warner Bros. of targeting Harrison in what she called a “malicious and vindictive manner.” That allegation stands in contrast to Warner Bros.’ statement that it does not object to the existence of a new Harrison-hosted dating show, only to what it considers unauthorized use of its intellectual property in the teaser.
What Happens Next?
Warner Bros. has not commented further on the clash. For now, Chris Harrison’s The Vow remains set to debut on Fox Nation in November, with the companies firmly divided over whether its promotional campaign crosses the line into infringement or relies on protected, widely used romance imagery and language.