Matt James is keeping it classy.
The Bachelor star is refusing to stand for his friend’s unfortunate comment about contestant (and notorious season “villain”) Victoria Larson‘s body!
Wait… a man standing up for a woman and calling out his buddy for toxic masculinity in 2021?! We are here for it! Finally! And we LOVE to see it!
Related: Kelley Flanagan Moves To NYC After Splitting From Former ‘Bachelor’ Pilot Pete!
As you’ll recall from our earlier reporting on the subject, a friend of Matt’s named Jerry made a rude comment about Victoria while the boys were out playing golf together. According to video clips posted on social media days ago, the pal said her body “doesn’t look very nice” and criticized James for “making out with this woman.” Ugh! Terrible!!!
Quickly, Larson herself took the high road with a witty clap back aimed at the miserable trolling. But now it’s time for Matt himself to make amends, too! The popular leading man went on The Real for a virtual interview on the daytime talk show’s Thursday episode, and in it, he owned up to his pal’s misogynistic comments about the reality TV contestant. Asked straight up by host Jeannie Mai, James didn’t shy away from the controversy and was refreshingly candid in his assessment of the unfortunate comment, responding (below):
“It’s just a constant reminder that you need to be smart about the people you surround yourself with. And those moments when you’re in sports and people are trying to say things to you to throw things off your [golf] game, it’s sad that someone would think saying something like that about a woman that I was dating would deter me from what I was trying to do.”
And Matt also revealed that he actually called out the comment at the time, too! Though it was off camera, Matt told of how he tried to explain to his pal why saying that in the first place was so wrong:
“I said something to him off-camera about it. Something along the lines of, ‘Victoria wouldn’t have given him a second look.’ It’s always the pot calling the kettle black. Who is he to comment on someone’s body? It’s such a low blow for any man to try and take a dig at something like that.”
Wow!
That’s quite the dig to take at your own friend! And maybe the only way he’ll understand, TBH…
Related: SPOILER ALERT! Uhhh… Did Matt Just Give Away This Season’s Winner?!
BTW, you should see co-host Adrienne Bailon‘s eyebrows pop up reacting to that part of the comment!!
In fact, you can! Watch the full clip here:
Amen!
And to perfectly tie things up on this one, Matt also revealed his own apology over the incident, saying:
That’s not my character and that’s not what I’m about. It’s a shame that that’s even associated with what was going on. I apologize on his behalf. I don’t know if you’ll get it from him, but that’s not something I support or stand for.”
Classy as ever!
What do U think, Perezcious readers? Do we need more men like this out there, or what?! And uh, can we volunteer to be his friend’s replacement??
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