*Bachelorette* Fans Are Divided Over Garrett Yrigoyen's On-Air Apology
Last night, Becca Kufrin surprised exactly zero people when she picked Garrett Yrigoyen on The Bachelorette season finale. She didn’t even surprise his opponent, Blake Horstmann, who straight-up said at one point during the episode that she’d pick Yrigoyen. Of course, Horstmann’s breakup with Kufrin was still very emotional (and sweaty), and led to a legion of Bachelorette fans taking his side on Twitter.
But Horstmann’s heartbreak isn’t totally dominating The Bachelorette conversation right now. Hundreds of fans are also chattering about Yrigoyen’s on-air apology on After the Final Rose, where he addressed those Instagram likes unearthed a few months ago. If you missed that, here’s a quick breakdown: In May, Bachelor alum Ashley Spivey tweeted out screenshots of Instagram posts Yrigoyen supposedly favorited back in the day. The post topics ranged from alleging a survivor of a school shooting was a “crisis actor” to criticizing young boys who use makeup. Yrigoyen posted a statement shortly after the controversy broke, writing on Instagram, “I sincerely apologize and am sorry for any hurt, damage, or offense I may have caused.”
He doubled-down on this during After the Final Rose last night. Read his on-air apology, in full, below:
“I didn’t realize the effect of a double tap or like on Instagram, so I put out an apology. I didn’t mean to offend anybody. I apologize for that still. I’m very sorry. I didn’t meant to hurt anybody’s feelings or do anything like that. So, I stand by everything that I posted in my apology. I’m just trying to grow as a person, be a better person on a daily basis. She’s helping me through everything. We’ve been honest and open and transparent with one another since the beginning; and when that all came out, we attacked it because I feel like when I was liking things it was going against what she stands for. And that made it really hard on us as a couple. So when we started talking about that we got through that together. We’re growing, we’re progressing, and we’re moving forward.”
Bachelor fans, however, aren’t fully satisfied with his statement. Many took to Twitter and criticized the fact Yrigoyen apologized for offending people but didn’t denounce the actual Instagram posts. Below, check out some responses.
https://twitter.com/diggymoreland/status/1026662015941664768
https://twitter.com/somethingdani/status/1026661155589251072
https://twitter.com/jordynhtaylor/status/1026661492601573376
https://twitter.com/guyswatchbchlor/status/1026707413347389441
A few came to his defense, though, saying Yrigoyen’s apology seemed sincere and that he’s perfectly capable of change.
https://twitter.com/tanamar26030399/status/1026673238376497153
https://twitter.com/Kayla_Cruise23/status/1026635901235949569
Kufrin said on After the Final Rose that she doesn’t “condone” Yrigoyen’s Instagram activity but still thinks he has a good heart. “I know that he stands by his apology,” she said. “He feels so bad for everyone that he did offend, and he didn’t mean it, but I just want to move forward and to learn and to grow and to continue to educate ourselves and that’s all that you can ask for in another person, that somebody who recognizes they made a mistake and did something wrong and want to learn and grow from it and that’s what he showed me.”
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The Bachelorette Season 14, Episode 11 Recap: Becca Kufrin and Garrett Yrigoyen Are Engaged
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A Complete Breakdown of the Garrett Yrigoyen Controversy on The Bachelorette