Becca Kufrin broke her silence over her fiance Garrett Yrigoyen’s recent comments about the ‘thin blue line’ in support of law enforcement in the midst of weeks of protests over police brutality.
The reality star revealed during the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast with co-host Rachel Lindsay that she disagrees with Garrett’s ‘tone-deaf’ social media post and doesn’t ‘align’ with his view point.
Yrigoyen was criticized by many, including others within Bachelor Nation like Bekah Martinez, who slammed him for showing solidarity with police.
Speaking out: Becca Kufrin revealed during the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast with co-host Rachel Lindsay that she disagrees with fiance Garrett Yrigoyen’s ‘tone-deaf’ social media post in support of police during BLM protests (Pictured in January)
‘Garrett is my fiancé and I love him and to his core, I believe that he is a good person,’ Kufrin said. ‘What he posted, I don’t align with and I don’t agree with.’
‘I don’t think he meant it in a malicious way,’ she said. ‘I do think it was tone-deaf, and it was the wrong time and message and sentiment. The 30-year-old added: ‘I’m trying to get him to see the bigger picture.’
Later, she posted in a long Instagram message that she listened to the episode back and felt that she ‘fell short’ and wished she had said more.
Last Thursday, Garrett sparked outrage when he shared a black square to his Instagram page that had a ‘thin blue line’ running through it.
‘Garrett is my fiancé and I love him and to his core, I believe that he is a good person,’ Kufrin said. ‘What he posted, I don’t align with and I don’t agree with. I don’t think he meant it in a malicious way,’ she said. ‘I do think it was tone-deaf, and it was the wrong time and message and sentiment. (Pictured last June)
He said the line was to represent ‘each officer protecting protestors, properties, and businesses while being threatened, attacked, shot, shot at, hit with vehicles, and other forms of brutality.’
‘With so many friends and family in law enforcement I couldn’t sit back and not support them and the hundreds of thousands of men and women of all races that represent this Thin Blue Line as well.
‘It’s important for me to recognize the ones who stand in the gap and put their lives on the line each and every single day for humans of different race and ethnicity, including those who hate them.’
During the emotional podcast, Becca explained that a friend of Garrett’s had been shot in the back of the head during a riot and wanted to ‘stand by the cops too.’
Calling out: Yrigoyen was recently slammed after he posted a black box on social media with a ‘thin blue line’ to represent ‘each officer protecting protestors, properties, and businesses while being threatened, attacked, shot, shot at, hit with vehicles, and other forms of brutality.’ (Pictured last June)
Backlash: Yrigoyen was criticized by many, including others within Bachelor Nation like Bekah Martinez, who slammed him for showing solidarity with police but he responded by doubling down on his POV
Rachel Lindsay pushed back a bit and added: ‘To me, this is what Garrett thinks, this is what Garrett is.’
‘He posted a black box. He never said black lives matter. He posted fists of every color, which to me is like, ‘Everybody, all lives.’ And then the very next post is the ‘thin blue line’ with a heartfelt, thought-out caption that he said with his chest.
‘And to me, that is what you feel, and that is what you believe. I don’t think Garrett is malicious, but Garrett is what the problem is.’
This is not the first time that Yrigoyen has come under fire and after the season premiere of The Bachelorette in 2018 screenshots surfaced showing that he had ‘liked’ racist and homophobic means on Instagram.
Rachel Linday told Becca on the podcast: ‘He posted a black box. He never said black lives matter. He posted fists of every color, which to me is like, ‘Everybody, all lives.’ And then the very next post is the ‘thin blue line’ with a heartfelt, thought-out caption that he said with his chest. ‘And to me, that is what you feel, and that is what you believe.’ (Pictured in February)
Becca shared the link of the latest podcast episode on Instagram along with a long caption saying that she’d had the ‘most difficult’ week and was ‘anxious’ about how her comments would be received.
‘Ultimately I have to look beyond myself & my feelings because what we cover in it is so much bigger & important than me,’ she penned.
‘Throughout the episode, Rachel & I talk about what has been taking place across our country, the Black Lives Matter Movement, underlying issues of white privilege, diversity & changes that can take place within systems like the Bachelor Franchise,’ she continued.
‘This conversation was the hardest, most uncomfortable, but important ones that we’ve had,’ she wrote.
Not good enough: While promoting the episode, Becca posted in a long Instagram message that she listened to the episode back and felt that she ‘fell short’ and wished she had said more
Kufrin went on to say that she values her relationship with her co-host as well as her relationship with her fiance so juggling them is ‘really effing hard.’
‘I will be the first to admit that listening to this back, I came up short. Very short. I listen to this & wish I had said more, wish I could have expressed myself better, wish I could have given so much more than I did,’ Becca admitted.
‘I think to myself “I didn’t ask the right questions,” “I threw out the incorrect phrases,” “I didn’t defend my fiancé,” “why couldn’t I back up my thought process better?'” The list goes on & on.’
Becca ended the post acknowledging that she can’t re-do the episode and the only road forward is to try to ‘be patient & show care to others – especially for those who are hurting most right now.’
‘I will be the first to admit that listening to this back, I came up short. Very short. I listen to this & wish I had said more, wish I could have expressed myself better, wish I could have given so much more than I did,’ Becca admitted (Pictured in January)
‘As an individual, I have the ability to use my voice, to use my platform, to have uncomfortable conversations during time-changing moments like this because it matters,’ she wrote. ‘It’s important.’
Garrett, meanwhile, hit back at the criticism he received from fellow Bachelor Nation star Bekah Martinez.
‘You made a mistake for judging me in the past without knowing me…needless to say you never got to know me, still don’t know me,’ wrote Garrett on his Instagram Story.
Yrigoyen said Bekah – who is good friends with Becca – is ‘no longer invited over’ to his and Kufrin’s home and she had once told his fiancee ‘how much [she] loved [him].’
Toe-to-toe: Bekah Martinez is now feuding on social media with Garrett over his comments and in response, he said she is ‘no longer invited over’ to his and Kufrin’s home
In his rant he said that showing ‘love & support for others’ – meaning police officers -‘doesn’t make me a racist nor does it take away from BLM.’
‘What is wrong with supporting Black Lives and Cops at the same time?,’ Yriygoyen wrote.
‘I have grown and become more educated in the past two years. If you saying by me posting that and supporting everyone isn’t change…then what about you jumping to conclusions and running your thumbs on my page, AGAIN, has changed,’ concluded the reality star.
Comment call out: Bekah then took to Garrett’s comment section and attempted to explain to him that ‘law enforcement CHOOSES to put on a blue uniform,’ where as ‘Black people don’t choose to be black’