Cosmo Bachelor Cover After Victoria Fuller Modeled Clothing with 'White Lives Matter' Slogan
Spoilers ahead for Monday night’s episode of The Bachelor.
Cosmopolitan magazine has decided not to publish its Bachelor cover after all.
Fans of the ABC reality series who watched on Monday night might be expecting to see contestant Victoria Fuller grace the cover of the magazine’s next digital issue — but that will no longer happen after Fuller was allegedly linked to a clothing brand that featured the words “White Lives Matter.”
It first surfaced last month that Fuller had once modeled for a “Marlin Lives Matter” ad campaign and wore clothing featured the slogan “White Lives Matter.”
“Unequivocally, the White Lives Matter movement does not reflect the values of the Cosmo brand,” Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief Jessica Pels shared in a letter from the editor published online Monday night, announcing that despite winning the group date challenge, Fuller’s cover would not be released.
“We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, and any cause that fights to end injustices for people of color,” she said.
“When my team and I flew down to Costa Rica for our challenge, we weren’t told who our models were going to be. We didn’t even meet them until we were all on camera on-set, ready to start our shoot,” Pels wrote.
“So when it came time for me to choose the winner of the challenge—whose prize was a digital cover of Cosmo—all I knew about the contestants were their first names and the energy they conveyed through the camera lens,” Pels continued. “It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I found out that the woman I’d chosen had, in her past, modeled in an ad campaign wearing White Lives Matter attire.”
“My team and I had many long discussions about how we wanted to address this issue. We’d already printed the fashion shoot in our March issue, complete with an inset of the cover, and of course, the episode had already been filmed,” Pels concluded. “Ultimately what felt right was choosing not to publish the digital cover on our website or social feeds, and simply being honest with you, the audience we respect, about what happened and where we stand.”
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However, some of Fuller’s photos from the shoot still appear on Cosmo‘s website along a Q&A feature with Weber.
Cosmo was one of several outlets to report on Fuller’s reported modeling campaign last month.
The modeling was reportedly affiliated with the White Marlin Marina, which has been using the phrases “White Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter” to promote the conservation of certain types of fish, namely white marlin, USA Today reported back in 2016.
The shirts’ designer, George Lamplugh, told the outlet at the time that “any person who sees the shirt and sees that flag will know what it’s for.”
ABC did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the Cosmo cover. Fuller has not publically comment on the modeling campaign.
This isn’t the first time that Fuller has been in the center of the Bachelor drama.
Last week, she revealed that she was previously romantically involved with the country singer Chase Rice, who performed during her one-on-one date with Weber.
Rice, 34, however, has distanced himself from Fuller, slamming the Bachelor producers last week and saying that his relationship with Fuller went no further than one night together.
“We spent a night together in Charlotte, she’s a cool chick, from what I know of her,” he said on the Fitz in the Morning radio show last Monday. “You know, I got no problem with her. I got no problem with him.”
But while Rice knew Fuller would be appearing on the show, he had no idea he’d be forced to come face to face with her.
“I didn’t know any of that was going to happen,” he said in an interview with SiriusXM’s The Highway. “I don’t want to be a part of that, you know?”
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m.
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