A Complete Breakdown of the Garrett Yrigoyen Controversy on 'The Bachelorette'
Garrett Yrigoyen was one of Becca Kufrin’s favorite suitors on her first night as the Bachelorette—so much so that she gave him the coveted first impression rose. But Bachelor Nation’s impression of Yrigoyen quickly wilted when reports surfaced he has a history of liking bigoted memes on Instagram. What followed in the days after this story came out was dramatic, even by Bachelorette standards.
If you’re just now catching up on this controversy, don’t worry: We broke it down, below, so you’ll know exactly what your Bach friends are talking about.
May 24: Former Bachelor contestant Ashley Spivey posts a series of tweets claiming Yrigoyen “liked” several Instagram posts that made offensive jokes about boys who wear makeup, Caitlyn Jenner’s transition, and the Parkland shooting survivors, among other topics.
“Can we do a better job of social media deep dives on the dudes that try out for #thebachelorette – FYI douchebags we can see your likes [sic]…After Lee’s problematic @$$, [sic] I truly thought this would be something we paid better attention to,” Spivey tweeted, referring to Bachelorette season 13’s Lee Garrett, whose racist tweets were discovered after his appearance on the show. “A contestant on this season of #thebachelorette liked all of these posts on Instagram and I’m thinking it will be very hard to pull for the type of person likes [sic] any of this.”
Check out her tweets—and Yrigoyen’s alleged “likes”—below:
Neither Kufrin nor Yrigoyen immediately responded to the tweets, and ABC told Glamour they had no comment. However, the silence was short-lived.
May 30: Kufrin gives an interview to E! News about Yrigoyen. “I’ve heard a little bit about it these past couple days,” she said. “I’ve just been so busy traveling around the country with press that I haven’t really been able to read too much up on it, but everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and at the end of the day I wanted to go on this journey to open up myself and have people see my love story unfold, and I would hope that they would stay open and respect me but also stay open and respect these 28 guys that went along on the journey with me.”
She expanded on the subject in a second interview with ON with Mario Lopez, according to People. “I met 28 guys who our ideals weren’t always the same,” she said. “They have different interests. They have different hobbies, different things that they believe, and that’s what’s been so great about getting to know these guys, because everyone has different viewpoints and that’s what I loved about this journey…I just want everyone to watch it back and to get to know these guys and to get to know me for who we really are and not social media, because that’s just a small glimpse into a person and it’s not always reflective of who they are.”
May 31: Late Thursday night, Yrigoyen took to his new Instagram account—he deleted his old one with the offensive “likes” attached—to confirm this activity was true and that he deeply regrets it. Below, read his full response:
To those who I have hurt and offended: This is all new to me. I wenton the Bachelorette for the adventure and possibility of falling inlove, not fame. “I did not know what to expect once the show aired. Iam sorry to those who I offended, and I also take full responsibilityfor my ‘likes’ on Instagram that were hurtful and offensive,” hecontinued. “garret_yrigs12 was my former Instagram handle and Idecided to take it down and start fresh because I have learned anextremely valuable lesson and am taking steps to grow, become moreeducated, and be a better version of myself. I am not perfect, and Iwill never be anywhere close, but now I will always be more informedand aware of what I am liking and supporting, not just on Instagram,but in life. I never realized the power behind a mindless double tapon Instagram and how it bears so much weight on people’s lives. I didnot mean any harm by any of it. My Instagram ‘likes’ were not a truereflection of me and my morals. I am not the negative labels peopleare associating me with. For those who do know me, I am a sincere,genuine, loving, light-hearted, open-minded and non-judgementalindividual. I like to make new friends with anyone I meet and wanteveryone to find their happiness. I love to laugh often and enjoyseeing others do the same. I hope that some day you can get to knowthe real me and the man that I am. Let my mistakes be a lesson forthose who mindlessly double tap images, memes. and videos on anysocial media content that could be many things including hurtful,degrading, and dehumanizing. I do not want my social media to definewho I am, and I will take better care moving forward to support allwalks of life. Again, I sincerely apologize and am sorry for any hurt,damage, or offense I may have caused.”
And so ends this drama—for now. Let’s see how the rest of The Bachelorette unfolds this season.
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