‘The Bachelor’: Why That Cosmopolitan Photo Shoot Will Never be Published

When you are dating 30 women at one time, things are bound to get awkward, especially when all of the women are trying to establish dominance over one another. Back in the Bachelor days of old, the contestants would rarely, if ever, kiss the lead in front of one another. But now, they do it every chance they get.

This week, we were forced to watch woman after woman grab Peter Weber’s face and rub on him under a waterfall while he posed with several of the other contestants during a competition to be on the cover of Cosmopolitan.

Unfortunately, all of that awkwardness was for naught, as Cosmo decided to pull the cover before it ever saw the light of day.

Who was supposed to be on the cover of Cosmo?

For last night’s group date, the women were tasked with competing in a photoshoot competition. Whoever took the best pictures would be given the opportunity to be on the cover of Cosmo with Weber. There were obvious problems with this from the start. First, it was unfair, as several of the women were professional models and second, how awkward would it have been if the woman on the cover with Weber was not the one who he chose in the end?

Not surprisingly, Victoria Fuller, a professional model, won the competition and got to do the photoshoot with Weber. Sadly for her, those photos will not be published.

Why won’t Cosmo publish Victoria F.’s photos?

When you go on a huge show like The Bachelor, fans are going to be doing some deep digging into your past. Last month, viewers discovered that Fuller had done some modeling for the White Marlin Marina, which used slogans like “White Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter” for their white marlin campaign. Fuller was even pictured wearing a “white lives matter” shirt.

Because of this, Cosmo decided to pull her spread.

“When my team and I flew down to Costa Rica for our challenge, we weren’t told who our models were going to be,” Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief Jessica Pels wrote on the Cosmo site. “We didn’t even meet them until we were all on camera on-set, ready to start our shoot.”

So, Pels knew nothing about Fuller going in.

“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,” she continued.

“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.”

Unfortunately, the print edition was already completed but the digital one was open for edits.

“My team and I had many long discussions about how we wanted to address this issue,” she wrote. “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.”