Despite last night's episode of The Bachelor, Cosmopolitan magazine will NOT be publishing its Bachelor cover.
-----Spoilers from Monday, February 3rd's episode ahead!
Every fan of The Bachelor was eagerly awaiting a Cosmo cover with contestant Victoria Fuller on the cover of its digital issue. After winning the group date competition and being told her and Peter would be featured on the cover, the digital issue was pulled. It will no longer happen because Fuller was allegedly linked to a clothing brand that featured the phrase "White Lives Matter."
The campaign surfaced last month, where Fuller modeled for a "Marlin Lives Matter" ad campaign and wore clothing featuring the phrase "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 Fuller’s cover would not go out.
“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 continues.
“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,” 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.”
Despite being a front-runner this season, Fuller has been in the news a lot in a negative way. She also was accused of lying last week when she said she was afraid of heights, and would never skydive, but then was seen in a photo on instagram skydiving.
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m
Photo: JOHN FLEENOR/ABC