ABC/John Fleenor
Peter Weber is defending Bachelor contestant Victoria Fuller after Cosmopolitan decided to pull its digital cover that was supposed to feature Weber and Fuller.
A day after Cosmopolitan‘s editor-in-chief Jessica Pels penned an open letter that the magazine would not be publishing the cover that Fuller would be featured on after she won The Bachelor group date in Costa Rica, which was featured on Monday night’s episode, the Bachelor star is hoping that fans and viewers will form their own opinion on Fuller based on what they see on the show, and not what happened in her past.
“Just being completely honest, I can’t really speak too much on it, because I don’t really know too many facts about the whole situation,” Weber said to Build Series on Tuesday.
He added, “I just recently heard about that with the cover being removed. But you know, obviously, during that moment too, I knew nothing about that. None of us did.”
“All I can speak on is the time I was able to spend with Victoria throughout this experience,” the Bachelor star said. “And I truly enjoyed my experience with her. I really feel like she’s a good person. She’s got a lot of endearing qualities.”
“I just hope that people can form their opinion on her based on what they see between the two of us and her time on the show,” he continued. “She’s not perfect, I’m not perfect, no one’s perfect, but, yeah that’s all I can really say on that.”
The reason as to why Fuller’s Cosmopolitan cover was pulled suddenly was because it came to the magazine’s attention that the Bachelor contestant is allegedly linked to a clothing brand that featured the slogan “White Lives Matter.”
“Unequivocally, the White Lives Matter movement does not reflect the values of the Cosmo brand,” Pels penned in her own letter. “We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and any cause that fights to end injustices for people of color.”
Fuller’s modeling gig was reportedly linked to the White Marlin Marina, which used slogans “White Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter” to promote the conservation of certain types of fish, specifically white marlin, USA Today reported in 2016.
“My team and I had many long discussions about how we wanted to address this issue,” Pels continued. “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.”
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The Bachelor airs every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Brittany R
Brittany is a writer who is obsessed with rom-com movies, Gossip Girl, reality television, fashion, and pop-culture. When she isn't reporting on the latest celeb buzz, she is filling up her online shopping cart without checking out.
