Despite being featured on Monday night’s episode of The Bachelor, Cosmopolitan mag is not moving forward with its special cover shoot starring Peter Weber.
In case you missed it, the glossy offered the winner of a group date in Costa Rica the chance to appear on a digital cover of their March issue with pilot Pete. Contestant Victoria Fuller stood out from the pack of remaining women and came out that challenge victorious after showing off her impressive modeling chops!
However, Cosmo editor-in-chief Jessica Pels has revealed those fun photos won’t be published on their site after all!
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In an open letter titled, “Why We’re Not Publishing the Cosmo Bachelor Cover,” Pels explained the decision was made after old photos of Fuller wearing “White Lives Matter” clothing began making the rounds online.
“Unequivocally, the White Lives Matter movement does not reflect the values of the Cosmo brand. We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, and any cause that fights to end injustices for people of color.”
Pels said when their team was asked to participate on the show, they had no idea who the women were nor any information about their respective backgrounds until weeks later:
“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.”
In screenshots of the controversial campaign, Fuller is seen rocking a blue baseball cap with “WLM” printed across the top. The advertisement was for an apparent marlin conservation group that focused on preventing white and blue marlin from being overfished — except they used the phrasing and branding of White Lives Matter and featured the Confederate flag in many of its images.
It doesn’t take much to understand why the glossy wanted to distance themselves from that kind of rhetoric in any way. Pels made this crystal clear when she added:
“In my view, the nature of the organization is neither here nor there—both phrases and the belief systems they represent are rooted in racism and therefore problematic.”
Ultimately, their team decided pulling the cover image was the best the way to remedy the sensitive situation:
“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. 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.”
Well, that’s definitely taking a stand!
Some pictures from the date featuring Weber, Fuller, and the other contestants are still up on Cosmo‘s site, though! So, there’s that.
Do U think the mag handled this the right way? Let us know with your thoughts in the comments (below)…
[Image via Bachelor ABC/YouTube]
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