‘Bachelorette’ Finale: Becca, Garrett, & Blake on the Instagram Controversy

BECCA KUFRIN, GARRETT
ABC/Paul Hebert

Becca Kufrin’s chapter on The Bachelorette has come to a close.

After turning down fan favorite, Blake Horstmann, in the Maldives, Becca accepted Garrett Yrigoyen’s proposal, and the newly public couple can’t wait to solidify their relationship with a trip to Costco.

But Bachelor Nation wasn’t so sure about Becca’s choice. Just as her season aired, a scandal erupted over Garrett’s social media.

It was discovered he has “liked” several posts on Instagram that were offensive to women, transgender people, and school shooting survivors. He took responsibility for his social media behavior and issued an apology:

“I never realized the power behind a mindless double tap on Instagram and how it bears so much weight on people’s lives. I didn’t mean any harm by any of it,” he said. “My Instagram ‘likes’ were not a true reflection of me and my morals.

“Let my mistakes be a lesson for those who mindlessly double tap images, memes, and videos on any social media content that could be many things including hurtful, degrading, and dehumanizing,” Garrett added. “I will take better care moving forward to support all walks of life.”

The situation intensified when Blake revealed to Becca he was a survivor of school shooting that took place when he was still in high school.

On Tuesday after the Bachelorette finale, during a phone call with reporters, Becca, Garrett, and Blake addressed the controversy again.

Garrett was asked if he’d reached out to Parkland survivor and activist David Hogg, after liking a Instagram post that suggested he was a crisis actor.

“No,” he said. “I just issued that apology on my Instagram, and I stand by everything that I said on there.”

“I’m just trying to grow and be a better person. I know I made some mistakes, and I recognized those mistakes. I’m just trying to be better and move forward but I apologized and I’m sorry to anyone that I hurt or offended,” he added.

Becca said of the scandal: “I think people just need to be open-minded to everyone. And when you use social media to create a judgment on somebody, that’s just a small sampling. In this specific case with Garrett, I got to know him aside from social media. I got to know who he is truly as a person. And I can only hope that people do that not only for me and Garrett and our relationship, but for everyone that they encounter as well.”

On a separate phone call, Blake reacted to Garrett’s behavior.

“I knew Garrett in the house,” he said. “That’s not the Garrett I knew in the house and I’m sure he will learn from this. And I trust Becca and I trust her decision, and I trust her character.”

Blake said he’s not had the chance to talk to Garrett one-on-one about the “likes” since the show ended.