A modeling gig from Victoria Fuller‘s past came back to bite her this week, causing the current Bachelor contestant to miss out on gracing the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine’s upcoming digital issue as planned.
The magazine’s editor-in-chief Jessica Pels explained to readers and Bachelor Nation in an online letter why the magazine cover that was shot on Monday’s episode would not be published. The cover— which featured ‘Bachelor’ Peter Weber and Victoria in Costa Rica– was the grand prize won by Victoria during a challenge on Monday’s episode.
Along with a rundown of the Costa Rican photo shoot, Jessica explained that she and the Cosmo team were not told who their models would be and in fact, they “didn’t even meet them until we were all on-camera on-set, ready to start our shoot.” Jessica maintained that when it was time to choose the winner of the challenge she only knew the contestants’ “first names and the energy they conveyed through the camera lens.”
“It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I found out the woman I’d chosen had, in her past, modeled in an ad campaign wearing White Lives Matter attire,” she continued.
victoria f modeled for a white lives matter clothing brand she’s gotta go #TheBachelor ? pic.twitter.com/OX7oajqjIF
— rach against the machine (@rchlmllnd) January 7, 2020
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Jessica went on to note that the brand Victoria modeled for was reportedly the Marlin Lives Matter organization which, according to USA Today, focuses on preventing white and blue marlin from being overfished. The organization is reportedly affiliated with the White Marlin Marina, according to People, and the brand uses both “white lives matter” and “blue lives matter” on their apparel to promote its conservation message.
Despite the organization’s intentions, Jessica said “both phrases and the belief systems they represent are rooted in racism and therefore problematic.”
“Unequivocally, the White Lives Matter movement does not reflect the values of the Cosmo brand,” she added. “We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, and any cause that fights to end injustices for people of color.”
While the magazine had already printed the fashion shoot in its March issue along with an insert of the cover, Jessica said she and her team chose not to publish the digital cover on the the magazine’s website or social media. However, some of the photos featuring Victoria remain on the Cosmo website within their February 4 Q&A feature with Peter.
According to Us Weekly, Victoria defended herself last month in a comment on the Bachelor Clues Instagram page of a post featuring her bio and past photo shoot.
” Hello bachelor clues & followers! It would be nice for you to gather all the facts before jumping to bash someone,” she wrote. “The company ‘We Love Marlins’ is in support of catching white, blue & black marlins and releasing them back into the wild. In regards to a sensitive topic, I come from a very diverse background & am in support of all races! Virginia Beach is a VERY large fishing town where Marlin tournaments are held every year! Glad to clear this up.”
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(Photos: ABC; Instagram; Twitter)
18 Responses
Hard to imagine a more narrow minded, ignorant, detached and laughable decision by this poor Cosmopolitan editor. What a fool.
Wow some of these comments are mind blowing. Only a person with privilege (white people) wouldn’t see a problem wit this. I am so disgusted.
It may be related to something else but that was a horrible choice of a brand name. Secondly related to fish or not it was in poor taste to model with that saying on it. She is either really stupid or a bigot.
Pfft no more rooted in racism than BLM. This is just ignorance piling on top of ignorance. Hopefully the Earth will spiral out of orbit and into the Sun at some point.
That’s fishist
Wait, there’s a White (fish) Lives Matter movement??
Still seems pretty pretty pretty racist given the back of the tshirt looks like a confederate flag.
So to clear up her “white lives matter” shoot, she hits us with “all lives matter”. Just ignorant.
Let me explain to all the confused boomers out there.
White people = BAD
Successful people = BAD
Capitalism = BAD
2nd Amendment = BAD
Unborn babies = BAD
Fish = BAD
stay lit, unless your are white or a fish with cash and a 401k
These responses are what I’d expect from the people we snark about here on The Ashley—not from the snarkers. I thought we were collectively better than that.
I’m very confused. Is this about fish?
Somebody help me because I’m confused…Black Lives Matter (and I wholeheartedly agree) White lives matter (and I also whole heartedly agree) but in this instance we are referencing fish…not actual white people, but it’s perceived as racist? This makes no sense. Can we just agree that all lives matter including fish? Or is that racist too? This whole thing is BS…and just for the record…I don’t like Victoria and I was hoping the reason they didn’t feature her was because she slept with married men not because she was trying to save the fish!
Did you not see the confederate flag on the back of that t-shirt that the brand made? Do you not understand that they’re mocking the black lives matter movement? And spare me the all lives matter BS…black lives matter is a slogan, because for many many years, and in present day people still act like they don’t.
But if it was a black lives matter photo shoot, it wouldn’t be a big deal would it?
That’s because one raises awareness and one is racist. It’s not hard to follow.
It’s hard for the privileged who have never been oppressed a day in their lives to follow….and the ones who don’t understand that privilege has nothing to do with financial standing and more to do with the privilege they have walking into an establishment or being pulled over, and not being judged on sight by the color of their skin.
What about ALL lives matter?
The reason that “All Lives Matter” isn’t great is because it belittles the BLM movement. The reason they have that slogan is because historically, black lives didn’t count as much as white lives in this country, particularly during Reconstruction period. It’s just important that people not mock it, no matter how important their fish lives are.
No matter how important their fish lives are lmao
Yeah pretty dumb for conservation awareness…